Spurs top Bulls with Duncan starring once again

Tim Duncan has further solidifies his hall of fame career after becoming only the sixth player in league history with 15,000 rebounds.

San Antonio Spurs made another step towards glory in their historic start to the season. It was San Antonio’s 31^st straight at home as they beat Chicago Bulls 109-101 in Thursday night. Kawhi Leonard scored 29 points and LaMarcus Aldridge getting 26 points to his name.  While Tony Parker added 20 points and had 12 assists for the Spurs,

Spurs is off to its best start after 65 games at 55-10 and extended their franchise-record home winning streaks. Tony Parker expressing his delight at the win said that the records are impressive but Spurs need to go all the way otherwise it won’t count for nothing in the end.

“It’s a record season yes, but it doesn’t mean anything if we don’t go all the way,” Parker said.

Spurs’ home record stayed intact but it was not without some nervy moments as Chicago threatened to take the game away from San Antonio. The visitors were without they key players in the form of without Jimmy Butler, Joakim Noah and Cameron Bairstow due to injuries, but gave a tough task to climb to the Spurs.

Rose who had 21 points for the Bulls, blamed their defence for the defeat and added that the Spurs pinched them back with open shots. He added that he and his teammates did not comminute that well last night which cost them the game in the end.

“I wouldn’t say one play (away), a couple of plays away,” Derrick Rose said. “On the defensive side we’ve got plays where we let them get all the way to the lane. We got plays where we didn’t box out and they pitched it back up for open shots. Just communicating. Communication has been key the entire year and that’s something we didn’t go out there and do tonight.”

Leonard has continued to emerge from the shadows with another impressive performance on the court. He finished 10 for 15 from the field, but only had five free throw attempts. Tim Duncan, who keeps on making records, praised Leonard for the way he is handling the pressure.

“His comfort level and his frustration are the same. He’s had an incredible year thus far and he’s starting to feel that he needs a little more respect than he’s getting. That he can make the plays that he’s making if he’s allowed the opportunity.”

Tony Parker was also on song with 20 points and 12 assists on the night. He said that he was told by the coach in the second half to be more aggressive which worked in his favour.

“In the first half I was more looking to pass,” Parker said. In the second half (San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich) told me to be more aggressive because they were going on little pick and rolls. So, I started with three or four jump shots, just trying to be aggressive.”