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Rose, Deng answer call for Bulls at AT&T

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Bulls 96, Spurs 89: Feb. 29, 2012

FOR SPORTS – Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose shoots over San Antonio Spurs’ Tony Parker during first half action Wednesday Feb. 29, 2012 at the ATT Center. (PHOTO BY EDWARD A. ORNELAS/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS) (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)

FOR SPORTS – Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose shoots around San Antonio Spurs’ Tim Duncan during first half action Wednesday Feb. 29, 2012 at the ATT Center. (PHOTO BY EDWARD A. ORNELAS/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS) (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)

FOR SPORTS – Chicago Bulls’ Joakim Noah looks for room around San Antonio Spurs’ Tim Duncan during first half action Wednesday Feb. 29, 2012 at the ATT Center. (PHOTO BY EDWARD A. ORNELAS/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS) (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)

SPURS — San Antonio Spurs Tony Parker gets around Chicago Bulls Derrick Rose, during the first half at the ATT Center, Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012. Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

SPURS — San Antonio Spurs Tony Parker gets pressure from Chicago Bulls Derrick Rose during the first half at the ATT Center, Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012. Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

SPURS — San Antonio Spurs Danny Green keeps the ball away from Chicago Bulls C.J. Watson during the first half at the ATT Center, Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012. Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

SPURS — Chicago Bulls Derrick Rose grimaces after collision in the first half against the San Antonio Spurs at the ATT Center, Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012. Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

SPURS — San Antonio Spurs Danny Green, left, and Tim Duncan pressure Chicago Bulls Carlos Boozer during the first half at the ATT Center, Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012. Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

SPURS — San Antonio Spurs Richard Jefferson looks on as Chicago Bulls Luol Deng celebrates a three-pointer with 39.6 seconds left in the game at the ATT Center, Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012. The Bulls won 96-89. Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

SPURS — San Antonio Spurs Tim Duncan walks back to the bench after missing the second three-pointer in a row late in the fourth quarter against the Chicago Bulls, at the ATT Center, Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012. The Bulls won 96-89. Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

SPURS — Chicago Bulls Derrick Rose drives to the basket past San Antonio Spurs Tim Duncan and DeJuan Blair during the first half at the ATT Center, Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012. Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

SPURS — Chicago Bulls Derrick Rose cuts through the defense of San Antonio Spurs Danny Green, left, and Tim Duncan during the second half at the ATT Center, Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012. The Bulls won 96-89. Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

FOR SPORTS – Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose and San Antonio Spurs’ Tim Duncan grab for a loose ball as San Antonio Spurs’ Tony Parker looks on during second half action Wednesday Feb. 29, 2012 at the ATT Center. The Bulls won 96-89. (PHOTO BY EDWARD A. ORNELAS/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS) (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)

FOR SPORTS – San Antonio Spurs’ Gary Neal shoots between Chicago Bulls’ Taj Gibson (left) and Chicago Bulls’ Joakim Noah during second half action Wednesday Feb. 29, 2012 at the ATT Center. The Bulls won 96-89. (PHOTO BY EDWARD A. ORNELAS/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS) (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)

SPURS — San Antonio Spurs Tim Duncan reacts to a foul call during the second half against the Chicago Bulls at the ATT Center, Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012. The Bulls won 96-89. Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

SPURS — San Antonio Spurs Tony Parker gets the ball stolen by Chicago Bulls Ronnie Brewer during the second half at the ATT Center, Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012. The Bulls won 96-89. Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

FOR SPORTS – Chicago Bulls’ Luol Deng celebrates after making a 3-pointer late in the game with the San Antonio Spurs Wednesday Feb. 29, 2012 at the ATT Center. The Bulls won 96-89. (PHOTO BY EDWARD A. ORNELAS/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS) (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)

FOR SPORTS – San Antonio Spurs’ Tim Duncan dunks ahead of Chicago Bulls’ Carlos Boozer during second half action Wednesday Feb. 29, 2012 at the ATT Center. The Bulls won 96-89. (PHOTO BY EDWARD A. ORNELAS/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS) (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)

SPURS — San Antonio Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich yells during the second half against the Chicago Bulls at the ATT Center, Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012. The Bulls won 96-89. Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

SPURS — San Antonio Spurs from left, Gary Neal, Tony Parker and Matt Bonner protest a foul during the first half against the Chicago Bulls, at the ATT Center, Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012. Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

FOR SPORTS – San Antonio Spurs’ Tony Parker looks for room around Chicago Bulls’ Omer Asik during second half action Wednesday Feb. 29, 2012 at the ATT Center. The Bulls won 96-89. (PHOTO BY EDWARD A. ORNELAS/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS) (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)

SPURS — San Antonio Spurs Tony Parker gets caught up in the defense of Chicago Bulls Carlos Boozer, left, and Joakim Noah during the first half at the ATT Center, Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012. Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio Express-News)

By Jeff McDonald

When it comes to setting a defensive game plan against the Chicago Bulls, it takes neither a rocket scientist nor a championship-winning basketball coach to identify their starting point.

It begins with the guy with No. 1 on his back, the ball in his hands and the MVP trophy on his mantle:Derrick Rose.

“We know who the most important guy to try to stop is,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said before tipoff Wednesday. “We also know we’re not going to stop him.”

Popovich’s prediction proved prophetic in Chicago’s hard-earned 96-89 victory at the ATT Center, especially late with the game on the line.

Rose found his way to 29 points, including back-to-back baskets in the final 1:46, as the Bulls welcomed the Spurs back from the rodeo trip and All-Star break with only their second home loss of the season.

“Down the stretch, Chicago showed why they’ve won all those games,” Popovich said. “They made shots and were real solid defensively.”

The Spurs’ first home game since Feb. 4 felt a little like, if not a heavyweight fight, than at least a middleweight one. Chicago (29-8) is the team considered to be the biggest threat to Miami’s Eastern Conference crown. The Spurs (24-11) are second in the West behind Oklahoma City.

For much of the night, it was a defensive struggle unlikely to drive ratings on the national broadcast.

The Spurs held the Bulls to 42 percent shooting. The Bulls held the Spurs to 43 percent.

Before the game, Popovich called Chicago, which came in allowing 88.1 points per game, “most likely the best defensive team in the league.” Nothing that happened Wednesday changed his mind.

It was the Spurs’ second-lowest scoring night at the ATT Center this season, better only than the 86 points they scored in their only other home loss in 2012, Jan. 20 against Sacramento.

When defense wasn’t enough to finish the Bulls’ victory, Rose took them the rest of the way.

Three times in the late moments, the Spurs climbed within three points, only to have Rose beat them back, directly or indirectly.

Rose’s impossible one-handed banker put Chicago ahead 87-82 with 1:46 left. His pull-up jumper made it 89-84 with 1:10 to go.

On the Bulls’ next possession, after Gary Neal had sliced the Spurs’ deficit to 89-86, Rose passed out of a double-team at the top of the key. The ball swung to the 3-point arc, where Luol Deng swished his second long ball of the quarter to give the Bulls a 92-86 edge with 39.6 seconds to play.

“We made a couple of errors on a couple of guys, and they knocked down some threes,” Popovich said. “That’s the ballgame.”

The Spurs trailed by as many as 11 in the third quarter before turning an about-face behind Tim Duncan.

After starting the game 0 for 4, Duncan hit six consecutive shots in the frame, scoring 12 of his 18 points during a 15-3 run that put the Spurs into the lead.

“The effort was there,” said Popovich, whose team fell to 13-2 at home. “I’m pleased with that.”

Neal, who was a game-time decision due to a sore hamstring, kept the Spurs in the game down the stretch. He made a variety of tough shots on his way to a season-high 21 points off the bench.

“There were a couple of contested floaters that went in for me,” Neal said. “If those don’t go in, maybe I’m 5 for 15 instead of 9 for 15 and I’m not doing this interview.”

While Rose was carving them up, the Spurs’ own All-Star point guard struggled to return to regular-season form after the break.

Tony Parker finished with 11 points on 5-of-16 shooting, though he did log nine assists.

“I thought the whole team was rusty,” Parker said. “I was rusty, too. I didn’t do anything for four days, five days. Everybody was kind of rusty. We missed some easy shots.”

When the chips were down, Rose was not. Even as the Spurs knew what was coming.

jmcdonald@express-news.net
Twitter: @JMcDonald_SAEN

– Photos by Jerry Lara and Edward A. Ornelas/Express-News

Pop sees bright side to rout

By Mike Monroe

DENVER — After their 137-97 loss to the Trail Blazers on Tuesday night, most of the Spurs decided the less said about the game, the better.

“They made about 18 3-pointers in the first quarter,” guard Danny Green said. “That just about sums it up.”

In fact, the Blazers made 8 of 10 on 3-point shots in the first period and 15 of 28 for the game, but Green’s point was taken.

With coach Gregg Popovich sitting his top scorer and assist man, Tony Parker, and his top rebounder and No. 2 scorer, Tim Duncan, there was only one thing Popovich cared about Tuesday.

“The only expectation I have is to play hard,” he said after the most lopsided loss for a Spurs team since March 5, 1997, when the Chicago Bulls scored a 111-69 victory.

And his assessment of the effort given by the nine players who saw action?

“They busted their butts,” he said.

Spurs rookie Kawhi Leonard logged a season-high 43 minutes and scored a season-high 24 points, and Popovich was grateful for the experience he was able to give the player the Spurs traded George Hill to acquire on draft night.

Leonard’s ability to learn on the fly after a short training camp and a compressed scheduled that has minimized practice time has been one of the surprises of the season, according to Popovich.

“Absolutely, without a doubt, the young guys picked things up more quickly (than expected),” Popovich said. “Kawhi still has a long way to go as far as understanding what’s going on, but his willingness to learn, his effort level and his ability to focus have been impressive. Same with Danny Green.”

Dawson’s debut: Eric Dawson, the 27-year-old, 6-foot-9 forward had waited a long time to make his NBA debut.

When it finally came, he logged nearly 32 minutes and produced respectable numbers. The former Sam Houston High School star scored nine points and grabbed six rebounds. He missed four of his first five shots but made all three he took in the fourth period.

Rested and ready: Popovich opted to keep the Spurs in Portland after Tuesday’s game, traveling to Denver at midday after a good night’s rest.

The Nuggets played the Clippers on Wednesday night in Los Angeles, chartering back to Denver after a game that tipped off at 8 p.m. Mountain time.

Rodeo trip rank: Regardless of the outcome of tonight’s game, the Spurs already are assured the second-best rodeo road trip since the annual trek began when the club moved into a new arena for the 2002-03 season. A victory tonight would match the inaugural rodeo trip in 2003 at 8-1.

The Spurs never have had a losing rodeo trip. The worst trip was 4-4 in 2007.

mikemonroe@express-news.net

Ginobili back at practice, but not yet ready to suit up

Don’t expect to see Manu Ginobili in uniform for tonight’s game against the Chicago Bulls at the ATT Center.

But the oft-injured Spurs guard participated in the team’s Tuesday practice session, a positive sign that the strained rib muscle that has sidelined him since Feb. 18 is on the mend.

“Manu is out,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “He partial-practiced. He just wanted to test it a little bit, see how it’s feeling. He’s not ready to play yet. He knows what kind of season it is. He wants to be healthy when he comes back, so he doesn’t want to do anything that would be unwise and keep him from being ready for the playoffs.”

Backup point guard T.J. Ford, who has missed 24 games since suffering a torn muscle in his left hamstring Jan. 10, will suit up tonight. Popovich promised he would try to find some playing time for him if game conditions permit.

Most worrisome at the moment are injuries to two players who have helped Popovich cope despite not having Ginobili and Ford available.

The availability of second-year guard Gary Neal, who suffered a hamstring strain in Thursday’s victory at Denver, will be a game-time decision. Rookie guard-forward Kawhi Leonard, who strained muscles in both calves in Denver, did not practice and likely won’t suit up tonight.

A full participant in Tuesday’s practice, which included some five-on-five drills, Ford believes in Popovich’s cautious approach to injuries.

“Know what?” he said. “Most guys play hurt. Most guys probably play with injuries they should rest. But being with this team and the structure here, the confidence each player has in this team is the highest I’ve ever seen in my life. So no matter who is playing and who is out, guys are stepping up and performing.

“That’s the great thing about not having to rush back and having to play the whole season with a serious kind of injury that will be nagging for the entire year.”

Special guests: Former Sam Houston High School star Eric Dawson will have two very special guests in attendance at tonight’s game: his wife and aunt.

Since returning to San Antonio from his first four games with the club after his call-up from the D-League’s Austin Toros, Dawson has gotten a lot of calls from family and friends asking for tickets to tonight’s game so they could see him in silver and black. Understanding he can’t accommodate everyone, they have planned a game-watching party at a relative’s home.

“They kind of understand,” he said. “They know. They just want me to be focused. My wife and my aunt are coming. Not too many people, but (the rest) will go to a relative’s house and watch the game.”

Dawson signed a 10-day contract Feb. 19, which means the club must sign him to a second 10-day deal or waive him Thursday.

“I’m anxious,” he said, “but at the end of the day, I gave them my all and left it all on the court. It’s out of my hands. I proved to them I can play at the next level. I’ll leave it up to those guys and continue to work hard.”

mikemonroe@express-news.net