The San Antonio Spurs will head to Chicago to take on the Bulls on Monday night in a matchup of two of the best teams in the NBA. The Spurs enter this game at 14-3 which is the second best record in the NBA and Western Conference while the Bulls enter at 9-5 which is currently good for fourth in the Eastern Conference.
The Spurs have won five games in a row and 11 of their last 12 and they rank first in the NBA in scoring defense so far this season. The Bulls on the other hand have played well but have had some trouble scoring so this should be an interesting matchup to watch.
The Spurs are still trying to assimilate LaMarcus Aldridge into their offense yet they are still winning at a rapid pace. Aldridge is averaging 14.8 points and 9.1 rebounds per game yet he is shooting just 43 percent from the field. Head coach Gregg Popovich is still trying to figure out how to best use the Spurs big free agent signee but it hasn't affected their record one bit.
A big reason for that is the play of Kawhi Leonard. Leonard leads the team with 22 points per game, and 1.94 steals per game and ranks fifth in the league with his 27.5 PER. Leonard was the NBA Defensive Player of the Year last season and his offensive game seems to be catching up with his defense this season.
The Bulls, on the other hand, have a nice record but they still haven't seemed to hit their stride yet. They have won five of their last seven games but they have also had some puzzling losses despite being relatively healthy all season.
Although they have had most of their key players healthy this season Mike Dunleavy is still out as he recovers from back surgery and both Kirk Hinrich and Aaron Brooks have been ruled out for this game. That means Derrick Rose will be the only healthy point guard for the Bulls in this one and although he has picked up his play a little bit his numbers are still not all that pretty. Rose is averaging 13.6 points per game while shooting just 36 percent from the field and 21 percent from three.
The Bulls best player this season, unsurprisingly, has been Jimmy Butler. Butler is averaging a team high 20.7 points per game and 2.1 steals per game while shooting 46 percent from the field and 42 percent from three.
A player to watch in this game is Pau Gasol as his numbers are down from a year ago, although he is still averaging a double-double (13.6 PPG and 10.1 RPG.) Gasol has said he wants more paint touches but he also realizes that the team is still learning the new offense under rookie head coach Fred Hoiberg.
The Spurs have won four of the last six meetings against the Bulls and this will be their first meeting this season. The Bulls though, have been very good at home so far as they have posted a 5-1 record at the United Center.
The game is scheduled to tip off at 8 P.M. Eastern time and to watch the live broadcast go here. For the Spurs radio broadcast go here and for the Bulls radio broadcast go here.
