The Chicago Bulls will look to build on a two-game winning streak and make the most of a crucial homestand when they host the struggling San Antonio Spurs on Thursday.
The game against the Spurs will be the second of a home back-to-back for Chicago and its third game in four nights. It’s also the second of a season-long six-game stint at home that runs through Dec. 30.
Chicago looked impressive in a 124-108 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday as eight of the nine men who played for more than a minute for the Bulls scored in double figures. DeMar DeRozan led Chicago with 27 points while Coby White had 17, Alex Caruso and Patrick Williams added 15 each, Ayo Dosunmu scored 14 and Nikola Vucevic racked up 13 points and 10 rebounds.
The Bulls announced Tuesday that key reserve forward Torrey Craig would miss 8-10 weeks with a plantar fascia sprain in his right foot that was suffered in Saturday’s loss at Miami.
Second-year player Dalen Terry got his first chance to fill Craig’s role in Wednesday’s game against the Lakers. After averaging 6 1/2 minutes per game prior to Wednesday, he played 21 minutes against the Lakers — 11 of them in the first half — and scored two points.
“I go with the flow to be honest with you,” Terry said of his need to step up. “I already knew with the injuries and how everything was going that there would be playing time that could be increased for me, but you just never know. Nothing is ever set in stone, so just try and make the most of what I can with the minutes I get.”
The Spurs take the short trip south from Milwaukee after a 132-119 loss to the Bucks on Tuesday. It was San Antonio’s 20th defeat in its last 21 contests and its second straight after ending a franchise-worst 18-game losing streak Friday at home against the Lakers.
Keldon Johnson led the Spurs in the loss to the Bucks by tying season highs with 28 points and 12 rebounds. Zach Collins added 22 points, Devin Vassell hit for 17 and Tre Jones added 14 off the bench.
San Antonio missed 13 of its first 14 shots, fell behind in a big way early against Milwaukee and never caught up.
“I think we were just asleep for probably the first four minutes,” San Antonio center Collins said. “It didn’t help that we couldn’t hit a shot but I think our mindset just from the jump wasn’t good. We have to be more professional and start games better because we played pretty well the rest of the way. All we had to do was start a little bit better, be more aggressive.”
San Antonio played without rookie phenom Victor Wembanyama for just the second time this season in Milwaukee. Wembanyama was held out because of a tender right ankle. “I don’t think we’re expecting it to be long-term or anything,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.
Both Wembanyama and Johnson (low back tightness) are listed as probable for the Spurs on Thursday.
–Field Level Media