Aldridge, Leonard guide Spurs past Bulls
SAN ANTONIO -- LaMarcus Aldridge hit his first 11 shots from the floor on the way to a season-high 33 points in leading the San Antonio Spurs to a wild 119-100 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday at the AT&T Center as part of the NBA's Christmas Day extravaganza.
Kawhi Leonard added 25 points and a game-high 10 rebounds for the Spurs (25-4), who won for the first time on Christmas since 2008 and improved to 5-6 all time on the holiday.
San Antonio, which won seven of its past eight games, built a 20-point first-quarter lead but gave it all back and more by midway through the third quarter, when it trailed 70-67. The Spurs then blew past the Bulls in the final 16 minutes, running away at the end.
San Antonio also got 13 points from Tony Parker and 12 from Pau Gasol.
Chicago (14-16) was led by Dwayne Wade's 24 points while Jimmy Butler hit for 19, Taj Gibson had 12, Nikola Mirotic added 11 (all in the first half) and Robin Lopez scored 10.
The Spurs' game plan was to get Aldridge in the groove early and often, and he responded by scoring San Antonio's first eight points and helping the Spurs to an 8-0 lead two and a half minutes into the first quarter. Chicago helped by missing its first six field goal attempts.
San Antonio kept its foot to the pedal as Leonard took his turn, pouring in back-to-back 3-pointers and three free throws when he was fouled taking a third shot from long distance as the Spurs ran their early advantage to 17-2.
The Spurs hit 12 of their first 13 shots from the floor and ended up 14 of 17 from the field (82.4 percent) in the first quarter. Aldridge was 9-for-9 shooting and hit both of his free throws while scoring 20 points in the quarter.
A 12-6 run capped by a 3-pointer by Jerian Grant at the buzzer allowed the Bulls to stay within shouting distance, down just 36-25 after the first 12 minutes of play.
Chicago cut the Spurs' lead to 52-49 in the waning minutes of the second quarter thanks to 11 points off the bench by Mirotic and nine San Antonio turnovers that handed the Bulls 13 first-half points.
San Antonio settled for a 55-50 advantage at the break as Aldridge had 25 points and six rebounds in the first half while Leonard added 16 points. Mirotic led the Bulls with his 11 points and the Chicago bench outscored San Antonio 23-8 prior to intermission.
Wade's 3-pointer at the 7:29 mark of the third quarter after two offensive rebounds from his teammates allowed the Bulls to tie the score at 63, erasing all of the 20-point lead the Spurs forged in their hotter-than-fire first quarter surge. Butler's 3-pointer two minutes later granted Chicago its first lead, at 70-67.
San Antonio broke away from a 71-71 tied game with 4:10 to play in the third quarter via a 12-3 run keyed by two straight alley-oop slams by Dewayne Dedmon and a 3-pointer from Manu Ginobili. Another layup by Dedmon off an assist from Patty Mills with 3.8 seconds left in the quarter allowed the Spurs an 87-76 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Two Danny Green 3-pointers on consecutive possessions (his only points of the game) in the second minute of the fourth quarter pushed San Antonio's lead to 95-82 and the Spurs ran away from there.
NOTES: The Spurs set their regular-season single-game attendance record when 37,492 fans packed the Alamodome to watch San Antonio face Michael Jordan and the Bulls on March 14, 1998. Chicago won 96-86. ... San Antonio tied a franchise high with 20 blocked shots versus Chicago on Nov. 26, 1999. ... Six-time NBA All-Star Artis Gilmore averaged 19.3 points and 11.1 rebounds in 482 games with the Bulls (1976-82, 1987-88), and 16.1 points and 9.7 rebounds in 380 games with the Spurs (1982-87). ... Chicago associate coach Jim Boylen was an assistant for the Spurs for two seasons from 2013-15. ... Bulls swingman Jimmy Butler scored 26 points on Friday at Charlotte, his 12th-straight road performance with 20-plus points. The 12-game streak is tied with Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook for second-most, behind only Boston's Isaiah Thomas (15).