CHICAGO — The San Antonio Spurs kicked off a four-game road trip in frustrating fashion as they blew a 19-point lead and would fall 114-110 to the Chicago Bulls at the United Center on Monday night.
The loss is the second straight for San Antonio, who dropped to 10th place in the Western Conference.
San Antonio came out of the game firing, getting out to a 19-point lead in the fourth quarter and led by 13 points going into the final 12 minutes. San Antonio would be outscored 32-15 in the fourth quarter as the Bulls rallied for the surprising win.
Here are three takeaways from the Spurs’ loss to Chicago:
(Lack of) Attention to detail
San Antonio’s lack of attention to detail is what cost the Spurs the win, according to Acting Head Coach Mitch Johnson. The Spurs turned the ball over — giving the Bulls more opportunity to get back into the game — and that caused their offense to be slowed.
Zach LaVine had 35 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists for Chicago, who took their first lead with 47.5 seconds remaining in the game after Spurs forward Devin Vassell turned the ball over when throwing the ball out of bounds in a pass attempt to Jeremy Sochan on the previously play.
The Spurs had trouble containing Coby White, who scored 23 points, and Nikola Vucevic, who added 24. White had the slam over Wemby that would put the Bulls up four points with 15.6 seconds left.
Chicago would outscore San Antonio 13-3 over the final 4:14 of play.
“I think the attention to detail and respect for some of the little things that went into when we got the lead wavered and then, we had a fight on our hands,” Spurs Acting Head Coach Mitch Johnson said. “And so you have the human nature of being complacent or happy with yourselves when things are going well in the middle of a game. And you felt the game flip. It flipped. And I think that lack of respect at times for some of the details played a part.”
Uncle Chris still has it
After having his worst game as a Spur against the Denver Nuggets, Chris Paul followed that up with his best game in Silver and Black, putting in work on both ends of the floor.
Paul finished with 18 points and nine assists, including six points when Victor Wembanyama was on the bench. Defensively, Paul was aggressive on defense as he relied on his veteran experience to make key plays to keep the Spurs ahead.
However, following the loss, Paul said he thinks the Spurs need to ‘find their grit’ and learn how to find that mentality to win in crunch time.
“We got to figure out where we get that grit from. Where we get that impose our will. We got a group of very good guys but in order to win these games it’s just a different mentality,” he said.
Finding that final gear
San Antonio had a block party on Monday in Chicago, swatting away 12 shots. Wemby led the way with eight blocks while Vassell had three and Jeremy Sochan added one.
However, the general feeling after the game was the Spurs feel they need to find that final gear that it makes to win crunch time games, where they have a 9-8 record. Monday was the second consecutive loss where San Antonio could not close the game out despite leading by double digits.
“It’s part of the maturation process, right? You get up 15 (points), the discipline, the hard work it takes to push that to 20 by the end of the third, to maintain that,” Spurs forward Harrison Barnes said.
“Right now we should have more wins, but right now we don’t deserve more wins,” Wembanyama said. “This is our level, our maturity. This one is a tough one for sure, but apparently we need those to grow.”
Up next
The Spurs are now 18-18 on the season and will return to the court on Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m. CST when they face the Milwaukee Bucks (18-16) at the Fiserv Forum.
