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 The San Antonio Spurs point guard scored a season-best 32 points
during a defeat of short-handed but stubborn Chicago 116-105 Sunday.
Parker, bothered by his left hamstring for three months -- he has
missed 14 games -- scored 15 straight for the Spurs in the third
quarter, converting 7 of 9 shots. He hit 13 of 19 for the game.
The Spurs (39-23) have won five straight games.
"He is playing great right now, and their team is playing great,"
Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said.
Parker has averaged 25 points in the last three games, nearly 11
more than his average this season. Even so, Parker said he has not
fully recuperated from the injury, a stage he hopes to reach for
playoffs in mid-April.
"I'm still dealing with some stuff," Parker said. "I'll fight
through it. "I'd rather play than stay out."
Forward Kawhi Leonard scored 20 points for the Spurs. Guards Manu
Ginobili and Patty Mills contributed 16 and 15, respectively.
Forward Pau Gasol led Chicago with 23 points and 15 rebounds. Guard
Aaron Brooks scored 22 and forward Nikola Mirotic added 19.
Chicago (39-25) shot the ball well -- 50.7 percent -- but committed
20 turnovers, most of them via a season-high 15 steals by the Spurs.
Leonard and Ginobili made three apiece.
"We were either getting great looks or we were turning it over,"
Bulls forward Mike Dunleavy said. "They were getting out and getting
easy shots, dunks and all of that."
Gasol attained his league-leading 42nd double-double by halftime
with 11 points and 10 rebounds. But Gasol, playing without injured
teammates Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson, was no match
for the Spurs and their depth.
San Antonio's reserves scored 24 points as the Spurs took a 57-39
halftime lead. Ginobili led the way with eight points, and Mills
scored seven.
The Spurs made eight steals in the half, which was partly
responsible for their 25-4 edge in fast-break points.
Chicago made a run at the Spurs by scoring 38 points in the third
quarter -- one fewer than the Bulls' first-half production --
cutting the deficit to 10 by the end.
Dunleavy scored all 12 of his points in the third quarter. Gasol
scored 10. Reserve center Nazr Mohammed scored eight in the third.
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The Bulls trailed by only eight with seven minutes left in the game,
but the deficit soon was up to 17 after the Spurs scored nine points
on their next three possessions -- treys by Mills and Ginobili and a
driving shot and free throw by Parker.
Ginobili said the Spurs are excited about Parker's recent
improvement.
"For him, and for us," Ginobili said.
Coach Gregg Popovich noted that Parker is starting to put together a
body of work.
"He has been in that mode for the last two or three games," Popovich
said. "And feeling pretty confident about his health."
NOTES: Spurs F Tim Duncan missed all eight of his shots from the
field, failing to make a basket for the first time in his 18-season
career. He made 3 of 4 free throws. ... The Chicago Bulls were
without their starting backcourt for the fourth straight game.
Derrick Rose (right knee) and Jimmy Butler (left elbow) are out
indefinitely. ... The Bulls were also without a key reserve, F Taj
Gibson, who has missed the last five games with a left ankle injury.
... F Kawhi Leonard led San Antonio in scoring three straight games
before facing Chicago, the longest streak for any of the Spurs this
season. Thirteen Spurs have led the team in scoring in at least one
game this season -- the most for any NBA team -- including F Austin
Daye, who has since been waived. ... Leonard and Bulls G Tony Snell
were teammates at Martin Luther King High School in Riverside,
Calif.
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