Forget Evita. It was Manu Ginobili, the wild Spur of the pampas, who made the Bulls cry for him Monday night.
The Argentine shooting guard, with 26 points and a stunning 80-second scoring burst down the stretch, shot the Spurs into a 96-82 victory.
“Manu is wacko,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said, meaning it in a good way. “He has no fear. He goes full throttle all the time.”
Sometimes the Spurs would like to slow that down and introduce him to Tim Duncan, who had 17 points and 14 rebounds and happens to be a two-time NBA most valuable player. But, ah, the innocence of youth. Also, at times, the breathtaking excellence.
Ginobili left the United Center crowd gasping and heading for the exits not long after the Bulls had taken a 76-75 lead with 4 minutes 45 seconds left. He ran Eddie Robinson off screens on three consecutive possessions for three-pointers to give the Spurs an 84-76 lead.
“He got it going,” said Jamal Crawford, who led the Bulls with 26. “We have to recognize that.”
It was the kind of game and effort that is becoming typical of the new Bulls. The team played hard, contesting a talented Spurs team but running out of offensive options.
“The Bulls have been playing real good lately,” Popovich said. “I think that trade is really, really great for them getting Antonio [Davis] and Jerome [Williams] really fits Scott’s personality.”
Though some wins would help Scott Skiles a lot more about now.
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Edited by Michael Kellams (mkellams@tribune.com)
and Chris Courtney (cdcourtney@tribune.com)
