Rookie Hill helps Spurs bounce Bulls 98-88
SAN ANTONIO - A rookie point guard took over the game on Wednesday in San Antonio, but not the one people would expect.
Spurs rookie George Hill, the 26th pick from IUPUI last June, scored 12 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter as San Antonio pulled away late for a 98-88 victory over the Bulls at the AT&T Center.
The Bulls (7-9) appeared to be on the verge of taking control of the game when they rolled out to a 67-58 lead with 5:37 remaining in the third quarter. But then they stopped moving the ball on offense and missed 13 of their next 16 shots.
"We went to the pick-and-roll stuff," Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said. "They made some adjustments, we got a little fatigued and got a little sloppy with the basketball. They executed better than we did."
After falling behind by 9, San Antonio (8-6) finished the third quarter on an 18-4 run. The Spurs went 1-for-11 from 3-point range in the first half, then Matt Bonner and Ime Udoka knocked down three straight 3-pointers during that stretch.
Manu Ginobili, playing for the second time this season after recovering from foot surgery, contributed 8 points during the run. Point guard Tony Parker is sidelined with a sprained ankle.
Trailing 76-71 to start the fourth quarter, the Bulls got into deeper trouble right away. Andres Nocioni, upset about the lack of a foul call a few seconds earlier, was hit with a flagrant foul, then a technical for arguing. The Spurs knocked down all 3 free throws to make it 79-71.
Luol Deng scored to bring the Bulls within 6 before San Antonio tacked on the next 10 points to pull away. Hill knocked down a jumper and converted two drives through the lane to highlight that surge, which came with top scorer Tim Duncan (21 points) sitting on the bench.
A couple of Bulls had hot hands. Ben Gordon (23 points) and Drew Gooden (20 points) scored 14 straight points while the visitors opened up the 9-point lead, then couldn't get many good looks. Gordon never scored after the 5:37 mark of the third quarter.
Rookie guard Derrick Rose finished with 10 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists, but collected just 1 basket in the second half. Deng scored 10 points in his second game back from a hamstring injury.
The Bulls wrapped up the Western Conference portion of the circus road trip with a 2-4 record. They will practice twice at the Berto Center before finishing the journey in Philadelphia on Sunday.
"Now we have to go home, get some rest and get our legs under us a little bit," said Del Negro, who spent six of his 12 NBA seasons playing for the Spurs.