San Antonio Spurs are slated to visit the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night in a fight between two division leaders.
The Spurs (46-9) have the highest record in the NBA and are able to get excellent play from veteran guards Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and their deep bench.
The Spurs, under coach Gregg Popovich, have played simple yet fundamentally sound basketball with an emphasis on defense—a formula that worked to their advantage when they won four NBA titles in the last dozen years.
Popvich, who is the longest-tenured coach in the NBA with one team right now at 15 years, said that having the best record in the league doesn’t always transfer over to the playoffs.
“There are teams playing better than we are,” he said, according to Bulls.com “Just because we have the best record doesn’t mean we are the best team. To be what we have to be we have to be better defensively.”
The Bulls aren’t slouches either at 37-16, and especially now that they have activated power forward Carlos Boozer after he broke his hand before the start of the season. Recently, the Bulls posted a 106-94 over the Charlotte Bobcats.
Boozer had 16 points and nine rebounds while Luol Deng scored 24, point guard Derrick Rose scored 18 points and tallied 13 assists.
“We are a deep team” said Deng, according to the Miami Herald. “That’s what has been so great about this year. Our mindset every night is to win.”
The Spurs (46-9) have the highest record in the NBA and are able to get excellent play from veteran guards Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and their deep bench.
The Spurs, under coach Gregg Popovich, have played simple yet fundamentally sound basketball with an emphasis on defense—a formula that worked to their advantage when they won four NBA titles in the last dozen years.
Popvich, who is the longest-tenured coach in the NBA with one team right now at 15 years, said that having the best record in the league doesn’t always transfer over to the playoffs.
“There are teams playing better than we are,” he said, according to Bulls.com “Just because we have the best record doesn’t mean we are the best team. To be what we have to be we have to be better defensively.”
The Bulls aren’t slouches either at 37-16, and especially now that they have activated power forward Carlos Boozer after he broke his hand before the start of the season. Recently, the Bulls posted a 106-94 over the Charlotte Bobcats.
Boozer had 16 points and nine rebounds while Luol Deng scored 24, point guard Derrick Rose scored 18 points and tallied 13 assists.
“We are a deep team” said Deng, according to the Miami Herald. “That’s what has been so great about this year. Our mindset every night is to win.”
