The 56-18 Spurs have locked up the No. 2 team in the West and look to continue their hot streak against a 29-45 Chicago Bulls team.
SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs aren’t just hot, they’re scorching as March comes to a close.
Winners of eight in a row and 24 of their last 26, San Antonio cruised to yet another blowout win Saturday, this time over the Giannis-less Milwaukee Bucks 127-95.
Victor Wembanyama led the way with 23 points, 15 rebounds and six assists. Stephon Castle had his fourth triple double of the season with 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
The 56-18 Spurs have locked up the No. 2 team in the West and look to continue their hot streak against a 29-45 Chicago Bulls team who have lost five of their last six.
These two teams have played once already this year, resulting in a 121-117 San Antonio win on Nov. 11.
The Bulls were up by as many as 13 points in that game, but with a minute left Wemby hit a 3-pointer to tie the game 114-114.
Another Wemby 3-pointer gave the Spurs the lead with 27.9 seconds. Good defense down the stretch from the Spurs sealed the deal for the Silver & Black as they eventually walked home with the win, putting them at 8-2 in the then-young season.
In that game, Wembanyama scored 38 points, including six three-pointers, along with 12 rebounds, five assists and five blocks.
The Bulls are a much different team than they were then: Kevin Huerter, their leading scorer this game with 23, is now on the Pistons, their starting center Nikola Vucevic is now on the Celtics, and a guy with 20 off the bench Ayo Dosunmu is now on the Timberwolves.
Safe to say the Bulls are in a complete rebuild as the season draws to a close, so a loss to one of the best teams in the league would be par for the course for Chicago.
Josh Giddey (17.4 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 9.2 APG) and Matas Buzelis (16.4 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 2.0 APG) have been two major bright spots in Chicago this year, as it looks like those two are the duo of the future. Former Spurs guard Tre Jones is also having a nice year averaging 13.2 points and 5.5 assists.
The Spurs are 13-2 in the month of March though, tied for second best in the league.
Let’s see if they can add one more win before April begins.
How to watch
The game will be nationally televised on Prime Video as well as available to watch on FanDuel Southwest. You can also listen to game action on WOAI 1200 and KXTN 1350.
Team stats leaders
- POINTS: Victor Wembanyama (24.2), De’Aaron Fox (18.8), Stephon Castle (16.6)
- REBOUNDS: Wembanyama (11.3), Luke Kornet (6.2), Julian Champagnie (5.7)
- ASSISTS: Castle (7.2), Fox (6.3), Dylan Harper (3.9)
- BLOCKS: Wembanyama (3.1), Kornet (1.0), Champagnie (0.4)
- POINTS: Josh Giddey (17.4), Matas Buzelis (16.4), Tre Jones (13.2)
- REBOUNDS: Giddey (8.4), Jalen Smith (6.7), Buzelis (5.7)
- ASSISTS: Giddey (9.2), Jones (5.5), Buzelis (2.0)
- BLOCKS: Buzelis (1.5), Smith (0.8), Isaac Okoro (0.5)
Injury report
As of Friday night, here’s where the team’s respective injury reports stack up:
- No injuries.
- Mac McClung – Out (hamstring)
- Anfernee Simons – Out (wrist)
- Guerschon Yabusele – Questionable (ankle)
- Nick Richards – Questionable (elbow)
Five more things to know
- The Bulls hit the sixth most 3-pointers a game at 14.6.
- Chicago is also sixth in the league in assists a game at 28.7. In turn, they allow the third most assists at 28.5.
- The Bulls give up the fourth most points a game at 121.0 point allowed a game.
- In March, the Spurs’ point differential is +13.7, best in the league.
- Wemby has put up averages of 25.8 points, 11.7 rebounds and 3.8 blocks in 14 games in the month of March.