The San Antonio Spurs look to finish off a spectacular month of March with a bang and continue on the hunt for the best record in the NBA when they host the Chicago Bulls on Monday.
The Spurs (56-18) have won eight straight outings and have captured 13 of their 15 games in March after going undefeated in February. San Antonio remains hot on the heels of Oklahoma City for both the top seed in the West and the best mark in the league and is two games back of the defending champion Thunder with eight contests left to play.
The Spurs are assured home court advantage through the second round of the playoffs. San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson said his team’s focus over the next three weeks would be to continue to improve and let the chips fall where they may.
“They don’t lose very often, and we don’t play them again,” Johnson said about the Spurs’ chase of Oklahoma City. “So there’s nothing we can do other than control these games in front of us and just trying to keep getting better.”
San Antonio guaranteed that it would finish no worse than second in the West when it swamped Milwaukee 127-95 on the road on Saturday. Stephon Castle amassed his fourth triple-double of the season (22 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists) and was among seven teammates in double-figure scoring.
Victor Wembanyama led the Spurs with 23 points and 15 rebounds in Saturday’s win while Devin Vassell and reserve Keldon Johnson added 16 points each, Dylan Harper scored 14 off the bench, De’Aaron Fox hit for 12, and Julian Champagnie had 11.
San Antonio swept a three-game road trip to Miami, Memphis, and Milwaukee and has produced four straight victories on the road by at least 25 points.
“Everybody playing for each other is the biggest thing, and I feel like that’s just the Spurs way, honestly,” Vassell said. “Everybody passes up a good shot for a great shot. Having your brother’s back is what we’ve preached since I’ve got here, and it’s great to see it working right now.”
The Bulls head to the Alamo City trying to throw a monkey wrench into San Antonio’s jaunt to the postseason but will have to be better to reach that goal. Chicago has dropped three games in a row, including a 125-124 setback in Memphis on Saturday. Matas Buzelis led the Bulls (29-45) with 29 points and 10 rebounds in Friday’s game, which was the second of a road back-to-back.
Collin Sexton had 26 points, Josh Giddey posted his 13th triple-double (18 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists) this season and Tre Jones contributed 19 points. The Bulls nearly won Saturday’s game when Jones stole an inbounds pass with four seconds left and fed Sexton for a layup. But the shot by Sexton was ruled to have cone after the final buzzer, and Chicago lost for its fifth time in its past six games.
The Bulls were officially eliminated from postseason consideration with Friday’s loss at Oklahoma City. Buzelis said Saturday that the team would not lie down with a few weeks left in their campaign.
“Just keep fighting, man,” Buzelis said of his mindset. ‘‘You don’t want to go out quitting. You have to finish what you started. We’ll come back stronger than ever (next year). I’m going to work really hard this summer, but you keep battling. I’m playing to win.”
The teams played on Nov. 10 in San Antonio, with the Spurs garnering a 121-117 win. Wembanyama recorded 38 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots.
–Field Level Media
