Bulls Lead Spurs Wire-to-Wire

It's been a trademark for the Bulls these past few years:  lay an egg against lesser teams, then show up like it's the game of their lives against the heavyweights, especially if the game is nationally televised.  For over a week now, the Bulls have not disappointed in that regard.  They lost to Dallas and the Lakers, but beat Cleveland on ESPN.  On Thursday, they faced the San Antonio Spurs, undefeated on the road through 13 games, in a game broadcast on TNT.  Staying true to form, they led throughout in a 95-91 win.

Although it was mostly the Bulls, who led by as much as 18, controlling the game, they faced a stiff challenge in the second half from the Spurs, desperate to keep their perfect road record alive.  They got to as close as four with 3:24 to play on a 3-pointer from Pau Gasol.  But the Bulls made their free throws and cracked down on rebounding on both ends.  It was enough to finish the Spurs off and cause Gregg Popovich to not pull any punches afterward.

All five starters scored in double figures.  Dwyane Wade led with 20 points, nine coming from the free-throw line.  Despite not scoring in the first half, Jimmy Butler finished with 13.  Twelve points each came from Taj Gibson, Robin Lopez and Rajon Rondo, who finished within one assist of a triple-double.

Despite the Bulls' tendency to show up more prepared when the national spotlight is on them, they can always use signature wins and this was their second in less than a week.  While they won't contend for a championship, they have enough talent that will get them over the hump against the best of the league.  That's why quality opponents can't take them for granted.  Though they've beaten good teams regularly in past years, this is a different team that can beat others in a way not executed properly much until now.

The Bulls will take a day to savor the win before returning to action Saturday against the Miami Heat.  Naturally, this has a chance to be a letdown after a big such as the one Thursday.  The Lakers beat them not long after they did the same to them in Los Angeles.  They'll try to avoid a repeat since they already beat Wade's former team in his return to South Beach a month ago.

Perhaps a key will be to keep teams off the charity stripe as the Bulls have been.  They rank second in the NBA with 18.1 free-throw attempts allowed per game and tied for third with 17.7 fouls committed.  That trend kept up Thursday when the Spurs got to the line just five times.  If they do that again Saturday, they'll make a bad team even worse.