Slumping Bulls Bounce Back With 104-81 Victory Over Spurs
CHICAGO (AP) -- Derrick Rose scored 22 points and the struggling Chicago Bulls beat the San Antonio Spurs, 104-81, on Thursday night.
The Bulls came away with a much-needed win after dropping six of eight and handed the defending champions their most lopsided loss of the season.
The Central division leaders broke this one open in the third quarter, outscoring the Spurs 31-20, and snapped San Antonio's four-game win streak.
Rose, who called out his team after Monday's loss at Cleveland, backed it up by going hard to the rim and hitting 9 of 16 shots. He led six Bulls in double figures.
Pau Gasol added 12 points and 17 rebounds after being voted to his fifth All-Star game and first as a starter.
Jimmy Butler scored 17. Taj Gibson added 15 points and nine rebounds. Aaron Brooks scored 15, and the Bulls snapped a three-game home losing streak.
After giving up at least 102 points in six of the previous eight games, Chicago held San Antonio to 37-percent shooting. The Spurs' Kawhi Leonard scored all of his team-leading 16 points in the first half.
Rose had it going right from the start with 15 points the first half, and Chicago headed to the locker room with a 46-40 lead that was about to get much bigger.
Tony Snell converted a three-point play with 17.3 seconds left in the second quarter to start a 14-2 Bulls run that made it 57-42 early in the third. The Bulls stayed in control the rest of the way, putting aside the chaos for at least one night.
The recent struggles combined with Rose's criticism and a meeting between the players and coach Tom Thibodeau painted an ugly picture for a team that was rolling along before the recent slide.
There is speculation that Thibodeau's job is in jeopardy and that he is losing the locker room. But Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was not buying that.
"He's not gonna lose any team," Popovich said.
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