The San Antonio Spurs will try to improve their shooting when they face the Chicago Bulls on Thursday in an interconference game.
This will be the only time the teams meet in San Antonio this season, where the Spurs have lost their last two games to the Bulls.
The Spurs are coming off a 104-93 loss to Phoenix on Monday, which was their second loss in the last three games after a four-game winning streak.
Devin Vassell led the Spurs with 25 points off the bench, and Victor Wembanyama had 15 points and 13 rebounds. Stephon Castle scored 16 points, Jeremy Sochan added 14, and Keldon Johnson contributed 10 points for San Antonio.
The loss eliminated the Spurs from the NBA Cup, as they struggled with their shooting, hitting just 35 percent of their shots and only 18.2 percent (8 of 44) from three-point range. Wembanyama was scoreless in the first half and made just 1 of 9 from beyond the arc.
San Antonio’s defense performed well, limiting the Suns to 48.7 percent shooting.
“The defensive effort was really good,” said Spurs acting coach Mitch Johnson. “But we turned the ball over and missed a lot of shots. Those two things really put a lot of pressure on your defense, and I thought it held up pretty well.”
The Spurs trailed by 13 at halftime but reduced the deficit to two with 7 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter. They were down by only four heading into the final period, but Phoenix opened the fourth with a 7-0 run and stayed ahead.
Chicago heads to San Antonio after a 128-102 victory over Brooklyn on Monday, ending a two-game losing streak. Josh Giddey recorded his first triple-double of the season, scoring 20 points, grabbing 13 rebounds, and making 11 assists.
Nikola Vucevic added 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulls. Rookie Matas Buzelis scored a career-high 20 points, Zach LaVine contributed 18 points, Ayo Dosunmu had 16 points, and Talen Horton-Tucker scored 11 points for Chicago.
“It was cool,” Giddey said about his triple-double. “The guys made my job easy. We played the right way. I was able to throw the ball ahead. Guys made shots, got to the rim. Team effort. We did it by committee, and that’s how it’s got to be every night.”
The Bulls shot 52.2 percent from the field and 34 percent from three-point range, while they also had big advantages in rebounds (54-41), fastbreak points (32-15), and points in the paint (62-40).
Buzelis, 20, has taken on a bigger role with the team, playing at least 17 minutes in four consecutive games off the bench. Chicago coach Billy Donovan praised him for his determination.
“The thing I admire is Buzelis keeps coming back and that he understands there is a learning curve for him in this process,” Donovan said. “If he does something, he tries to learn from it and move forward. It doesn’t deter him in his energy and the way he plays.”
