Rare Winning Streak
Chicago,Il – With inconsistency one of the most consistent elements of this season’s squad, the Bulls go for their first three-game winning streak of 2008-09 on Saturday.
Chicago Bulls (18-22), which has dropped eight of its last 10 to the San Antonio Spurs (25-13) at the United Center, improved to 13-7 at home following a 102-93 overtime victory over Central Division-leading Cleveland on Thursday night.
Oddsmakers from online sports book Sportsbook.com have made the Spurs -3 point spread favorites for Wednesday’s game against the Bulls. Current NBA Public Betting Information shows that 73% of more than 197 bets for this game have been placed on the Spurs -3.
Derrick Rose, who had just six points though three quarters, finished with 16 points and six assists.
"Real fun, especially playing a team like that,” said Rose, who leads all rookies with 6.3 assists per game. "They’re a good team. We played well together, passed the ball good.”
While his scoring has dropped from 18.9 points per game in November to 14.9 thought eight games in January, Rose’s assists have improved each month. He is handing out 7.0 assists per game as the Bulls have gone 4-4 in 2009. On Saturday, the first overall draft pick will match up for the first time with Spurs counterpart Tony Parker, who missed the teams’ first meeting this season with a sprained left ankle that sidelined him for nine games.
Rose had 10 points, six assists and six rebounds in Chicago’s 98-88 loss to the Spurs on Nov. 26.
Luol Deng led six Bulls in double figures with 22 points against the Cavaliers. He is averaging 17.3 points and 9.0 rebounds in three games since missing eight contests with a sprained left ankle.
In his third game back since missing 31 with a torn ligament in his right thumb, Kirk Hinrich gave Chicago a nice boost off the bench with three 3-pointers and 12 points. His 3-pointer in overtime came during a game-breaking 12-1 Chicago run.
Hinrich had 23 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in the Bulls’ last win over San Antonio in Chicago – a 99-87 victory on Jan. 15, 2007.
Drew Gooden returned from a one-game absence with a strained left groin and had 11 points and six rebounds on Thursday. The seventh-year power forward had 20 points and 12 boards in the loss to the Spurs this season.
While Chicago looks for just its third home win against San Antonio since 1996-97, the Southwest Division-leading Spurs are trying to rebound from their most lopsided defeat this season.
San Antonio opened its three-game road trip on Friday with a 109-87 loss to Philadelphia, its worst defeat since a 90-64 loss to Utah on April 4.
Tim Duncan posted his third straight double-double with team highs of 20 points and 12 rebounds against the 76ers, who outrebounded the Spurs 51-40.
"I think they just overall outplayed us," said Duncan, averaging 20.4 points, 13.6 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in 10 career games in Chicago.
While shooting a season-low 36.5 percent from the field, the Spurs allowed 105 or more points for the third straight game. The last time San Antonio gave up 100 or more points in three straight games was April 7-10, 2005.
"We’re supposed to be a pretty good defensive team and it hasn’t looked like it for a while," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. "We’re not the team we’ve been in the past couple years on the defensive end. It’s really troubling."
San Antonio, though, has held Chicago to less than 100 points in 20 of the last 22 meetings.
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Posted: 1/17/09 3:36AM ET