After a toughly contested home and away back-to-back with the Denver Nuggets, the San Antonio Spurs are hitting the road for a four-game road trip that’ll take them to the Midwest and the West Coast. They’ll start it Monday night against the Chicago Bulls.
San Antonio lost its last matchup to the Bulls 139-124. That game came during a stretch where the Spurs were struggling mightily defensively without starting center Victor Wembanyama. With their potential All-Star in the fold, they’ll have a much better shot at defeating Chicago, even on the road.
The Bulls have won 3 of their last four games, including a big win over the New York Knicks last week. Chicago’s run-and-gun style of play emphasizes taking and making a lot of threes. The Spurs’ defense will need to be on point to slow down one of the better offensive attacks in the NBA. If San Antonio’s defense from the last two games is any indication, they’ll be ready to run with the Bulls.
San Antonio Spurs (18-17) at Chicago Bulls (16-19)
January 6th, 2025 | 7:00 CT
Watch: FanDuel Sports Network Southwest | Listen: WOAI (1200 AM)
Spurs Injuries: Sidy Cissoko – Out (G League), Riley Minix – Out (G League), Harrison Ingram – Out (G League), David Duke Jr. – Out (G League)
Bulls Injuries: Torrey Craig – Out (leg), Ayo Dosunmu – Out (calf), E.J. Liddell – Out (G League), Emanuel Miller – Out (G League), Adama Sanogo – Out (G League)
What to watch for
Taking advantage of a poor defense
The Bulls are a scary offensive team but strike no fear on the defensive end. Chicago is 29th in the NBA in points allowed (121.3). They are the worst team in the league at defending two-pointers. Chicago lets teams put up a lot of threes (39.4), but teams aren’t taking advantage, making just 34% of their triples. San Antonio should punish the Bulls inside with Wembanyama in the lineup. If they can take advantage of the threes Chicago will allow them to take, they should be able to keep up with the Bulls scoring.
Bench production
The Spurs bench, for the most part, has been solid in the last few games. Keldon Johnson is playing well, Tre Jones has made things happen in spurts, Julian Champagnie is heating up, and Stephon Castle has bounced back from some mid-season rookie struggles. The backup center position continues to be a problem that has no clear solution. San Antonio will need consistent offensive production from the bench, even when the starters get a breather.
A Chris Paul bounce-back
The Spurs are clearly a better team when CP3 is on the court. They are even better when he’s aggressively creating offense. In the last two games, Paul has taken a back seat to the other Spurs, still making an impact with his passing. He can take the offense to another level if he’s taking and making shots in the pick-and-roll. It opens up so much for the Spurs offense when he’s a threat to score with the ball in his hands. We’ll see if the veteran guard can have a big game against a weaker Chicago defense.
