With 95-91 victory, Bulls break Spurs' streak of road wins
While the Bulls celebrated the return of Doug McDermott on Thursday, they also hoped to bring back the bench.
McDermott missed 11 games after suffering his second concussion in less than two weeks on Nov. 12 against Washington. In the meantime, the Bulls' bench contributions have been mostly awful.
With McDermott's help, the Bulls collected 26 points off the bench and handed the San Antonio Spurs their first road loss of the season 95-91 at the United Center. The Bulls never trailed and led by 18 points midway through the third quarter before holding off the Spurs' comeback.
While the Bulls (12-10) began the night on a three-game losing streak, San Antonio (18-5) was a perfect 13-0 on the road, one win short of the best road win streak to start a season, set last year by Golden State. The Bulls are now 2-4 since the circus road trip ended, with wins over the Cavaliers and Spurs, along with losses to the Lakers, Mavericks, Blazers and Pistons.
McDermott drained his first 3-point attempt after the long layoff. He finished with 8 points in 26 minutes, adding 3 important free throws when fouled on a 3-point shot with 3:05 remaining.
"I felt great," McDermott said in the locker room. "My wind was there. I was just a little rusty. It is tough to simulate an NBA game, the physicality of an NBA game. Overall, it was good. We won. I felt really good out there, no issues."
Jimmy Butler had an interesting night, going completely scoreless in the first half. He had his hands full with Kawhi Leonard (24 points), but eventually Butler finished with 13 points and 9 rebounds.
Dwyane Wade led the Bulls with 20 points. Rajon Rondo just missed a triple-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists. Backup center Cristiano Felicio also helped boost the reserves, with 9 points and 7 rebounds in 18 minutes.
The Bulls are badly in need of some bench strength. Too often, Butler and Wade carry the bulk of the scoring load and they've faded in the fourth quarter of some recent losses. Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg felt confident McDermott would help.
"Doug, he brings a lot to the table," Hoiberg said. "His shooting speaks for itself, but just the energy he goes out and plays with, his cutting, his ability to get to the rim. The biggest thing is he stretches the defense. That opens up driving lanes for our playmakers. They can get to the paint, get to the basket and hopefully draw some fouls. So yeah, he's as important as anybody we've got."
One of San Antonio's featured performers is center Pau Gasol, who spent the past two seasons with the Bulls before changing sides as a free agent.
When the Spurs arrived, Gasol greeted reporters in the hallway, then proceeded to walk past the visitors locker room. He was about halfway to the Bulls locker room before turning around and laughing at his poor sense of direction.
On the first play of the game, the Bulls tested Gasol's defense by going to Robin Lopez in the post, who tossed in a hook shot. Gasol had a decent night, finishing with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Gasol, 36, has been productive for the Spurs, but is getting a relatively light workload at 26.1 minutes per game. He played 31.8 minutes last year with the Bulls.
"He's been around long enough where everybody knows what he does for a team," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said before the game. "So we haven't changed anything. We want him to score a little bit, rebound. He's a good teammate and he's caught on pretty quickly. It's just basketball, so it's not very difficult for him."
Popovich was also asked why his team has been so successful on the road.
"I have absolutely no idea, honestly," he said. "Because we are pretty average at best at home and it's not by design, obviously. But the disparity in our defensive numbers and our offensive scoring are dramatic, home and away. I have no idea why. So I threw it to the analyticals, because that's how they're supposed to make their money. I'm waiting for the answers. I haven't gotten any yet."
• Get the latest Bulls news via Twitter by following @McGrawDHBulls.