Chicago ? With his mother living in France, and his father, brothers and grandparents living in Chicago, Tony Parker doesn’t get to play in front of his family that often.
When he does, he makes the most of it.
Parker had a team-high 17 points and five assists and Tim Duncan had his 16th double-double of the season to lead the San Antonio Spurs to their eighth straight win Monday night, a 91-75 victory over the Chicago Bulls.
“I want to play good in front of my family,” said Parker, who had to get 30 tickets. “They don’t have an opportunity to see me all that often.”
Duncan finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Manu Ginobili and Devin Brown added 12 each, and Malik Rose had 11.
Though the Spurs improved to an NBA-best 16-3, the win wasn’t a pretty one. They had 21 turnovers, two shy of their season high, and shot less than 41 percent. Duncan was just 4-of-12 from the floor.
Fortunately for the Spurs they were playing the Bulls, who have beaten San Antonio just once in their last 13 meetings.
“That was a game we were never in,” Bulls coach Scott Skiles said.
Chicago fell behind by 14 six minutes into the game, and never recovered. The Bulls shot less than 40 percent, and Luol Deng was the only starter to reach double figures with 13 points. Eddy Curry again looked lost when being picked on by someone his own size, finishing with six points and one rebound in just 13 minutes. Skiles yanked Curry early in the first and third quarters and didn’t play him again either half, possibly signaling more trouble with the prep-to-pro prospect.
Curry’s agents asked for a trade last month after he struggled in his first game of the season. Though things were smoothed over, Skiles was clearly frustrated when asked if the Bulls need more rebounding out of Curry.
“That would be nice,” Skiles replied.
“Definitely it will come to the point where I’m going to have to sit down and talk to him and definitely have a man-to-man,” Curry said. “I know he has a lot of pressure on himself. He puts enough pressure on himself he doesn’t need another player coming up to him and questioning his authority, his job or anything like that.
“I pretty much head back and kind of roll with the punches for a little bit,” Curry added. “But I think everything eventually comes to a head.”
Tyson Chandler was the lone bright spot for the Bulls, recording his fifth double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds. But the United Center was practically deserted by the fourth quarter, when San Antonio led by as much as 26 points, and the fans that stayed showered the Bulls with boos as they walked off the court.
“We started the game too flat, with lazy play,” Chandler said. “They’re considered the best team in the league, so you’d think we would be pumped up for it.”
Instead, it was Parker who was pumped up.
The Spurs’ trip to Chicago is always a family affair for Parker. His mother was here from France, along with Parker’s father, two brothers, grandparents and other family members. His brother, T.J., a guard at Northwestern, hung out with him before the game.
“I know coming in here he’s going to be very aggressive,” Duncan said. “It looks like he’s out to impress, and it’s great for us.”
Parker was a one-man machine to start the game, scoring 10 points as the Spurs jumped out to a 17-3 lead with 6:06 still left in the first quarter. But the Spurs missed their last eight shots in the quarter, allowing the Bulls back into the game.
When Eric Piatkowski hit a 3 and Kirk Hinrich scored on back-to-back driving layups, it pulled the Bulls within 61-53 with 1:25 left in the third quarter. But the Bulls didn’t have a field goal the rest of the quarter, and Brent Barry’s long jumper sparked a 9-0 run that gave San Antonio a 70-55 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The Spurs opened the fourth quarter with an 11-2 lead, putting the Bulls away for good.
“We didn’t have a good night tonight,” Duncan said. “Defensively we were sound, and that kept us ahead.”
Notes: Duncan and some of the other Spurs went to the Chicago Bears game on Sunday. … San Antonio has won seven straight against the Bulls. … The Spurs outrebounded Chicago 51-38. … There were three jump balls in the first quarter.
