The latest stop on the Bulls' at-times magical mystery tour known as the annual circus trip had the look of earlier stops in Los Angeles and Denver -- a winnable game in which they came up short.
Despite a game-high 23 points from Ben Gordon and 20 points and 12 rebounds from Drew Gooden, the Bulls once again faltered after three quarters and succumbed 98-88 to the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night at the AT&T Center. The Bulls, who fell to 2-4 on the trip with Sunday's stop in Philadelphia remaining, were unable to make a winner of coach Vinny Del Negro in his return to San Antonio, where he played from 1992-98.
"We played well the first three quarters and ran out of gas," Del Negro said. "Their high screen-roll affected us, and we settled for too many jump shots and got out of rhythm. But our guys fought."
The Bulls, trying to carry over momentum from Monday night's 101-100 buzzer-beating victory at Utah, held a 69-66 lead on Gooden's lay-in before the Spurs assumed control late in the third quarter.
San Antonio reserve forward Ime Udoka tied it on a baseline three-pointer, his first shot of the night, and on the Spurs' next possession guard Manu Ginobili whipped a wraparound pass to Udoka at the same spot on the floor. Udoka's second three gave the Spurs the lead for good at 72-69 with three minutes to go in the third.
San Antonio took a 76-71 lead into the fourth when the Bulls delved into the ominous combination of missed shots and turnovers. The Bulls' only points in the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter came on Luol Deng's reverse lay-in, while the Spurs were busy slashing down the lane for layups by Ginobili and rookie point guard George Hill.
Deng, playing his second game after missing the previous three with a sore left hamstring, scored 10 points in 26 minutes.
"I have to do a better job of getting Luol involved, especially early," Del Negro said.
Hill, the Spurs' first-round draft pick out of Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis, had 19 points and 11 rebounds. He won the battle of first-round draft picks with top overall pick Derrick Rose, who was held to 10 points, six assists and six rebounds. Tim Duncan led the Spurs with 21 points.
"It doesn't matter if you're a first-round pick, second-round pick or the last pick," Hill said. "You made it here, so you are here for a reason. I respect everyone. I like to step up to the challenge, though."
The Bulls unraveled in the fourth when forward Andres Nocioni drew a technical for arguing a no-call at the other end as he drove the lane. The Spurs hit three free throws to start the quarter to go up 79-71. The Bulls couldn't recover.
"At key moments, we didn't make the plays that we needed to," Gordon said. "We gave them what they wanted on offense, and we didn't come down and convert on the other end."Said Gooden: "This game's like chess, especially when you go against coaches like Gregg Popovich. He makes adjustments throughout the whole game, and we just have to counter that."
