FINAL FROM SAN ANTONIO: Spurs 131, Bulls 122 (Bulls: 30-18, 13-12 on the road).
LEADING SCORERS Bulls: DeRozan (32 pts), Spurs- Murray (29 pts)
LEADING REBOUNDERS: Bulls- Vucevic (8), Spurs- Poeltl (11)
LEADING ASSISTS: Bulls- DeRozan (8), Spurs- Murray (12)
CCI STAT OF THE GAME: The Spurs drained seven-three pointers in the third quarter.
CCI RECAP: The good news: The Bulls scored 122 points. The bad news: The Bulls surrendered 131 points San Antonio entered the game shooting just 34% from three point range. Against the Bulls, the Spurs shot 43% as Dejounte Murray missed a triple double by one rebound finishing with a 29-9-12 game. DeMar DeRozan returned to San Antonio for the first time since the off season trade that brought him to the Bulls and scored 32 points. Zach LaVine added 30 but struggled from beyond the arc going 2-of-10.
Coby White made four-3-pointers in six attempts; the rest of the Bulls went 4-of-24. However it was the defense NOT the offense that led to the Bulls falling 1.5 behind the Heat in the Eastern Conference.
The Spurs scored 58 points in the paint. The Spurs dished out 35 assists and committed just seven turnovers.
NEXT: Home with Portland Sunday.
CCI 24 SECONDS NBA NEWS AND NOTES
Milwaukee 123, New York 108: Giannis Antetokounmpo with a huge game of 38-13-5 as the Knicks lost for the sixth time in their last seven games. It was Antetokounmpo ‘s 15th straight game scoring 25 or more points.
Atlanta 108, Boston 92: The Hawks won their sixth straight.
Orlando 117, Detroit 103: Franz Wagner scored 24 points. Mo Bamba had 18 points ( 8-9 fgs)10 rebounds and two blocks.
Denver 116, New Orleans 105: Nikola Jokic recorded his sixth triple-double game this month and 69th of his career .
Miami 121, Los Angeles Clippers 114: Each Miami starter scored at least 16 points. Jimmy Butler went 16-16 from the foul line.
Charlotte 117, Los Angeles Lakers 114: LeBron James and Anthony Davis sat out with injuries. Russell Westbrook had 35 for the Lakers.
Memphis 119, Utah 109: Donovan Mitchell remains in concussion protocol for the Jazz, Ja Morant's last five games: 35pts. 8-rebounds. 8- assists.
Indiana 113, Oklahoma City 110 OT: After missing four games, Domantas Sabonis had a sensational game of 24 points, 18 rebounds, 10 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals.
Portland 125, Houston 110: The Rockets dropped their 10th straight home game.
Phoenix 134, Minnesota 124: The Suns scored 74 first half points. Phoenix improved to a league best 39-9.
Thanks for reading CCI. Reach out: cswirsky@bulls.com or Twitter @ctsbulls Always a pleasure. Go Bulls!