3 Keys to the San Antonio Spurs thrilling comeback in Chicago

The San Antonio Spurs pulled off a thrilling comeback to beat the Bulls

With 1:09 remaining in the second quarter, first-time All-Star Zach LaVine came off of a high screen and stopped on a dime to bury a 20-foot pullup jumper that would put the Bulls up by 23 points over the San Antonio Spurs.

It was just three nights prior when, down 23 points as well, Gregg Popovich made the business decision to sub all of his players out in the middle of the third quarter in a game against the Philadelphia 76ers. Rarely do teams give up that early, however, it was a sensible move as the Spurs’ difficult remaining schedule means there’s no need to exhaust players for a lost cause.

So what was different in the game against the Bulls, and what was it that made the comeback possible?

For starters, the Philadelphia 76ers are a much better team than the Chicago Bulls. Even without Joel Embiid, the 76ers have plenty of talent to hold off a potential Spurs comeback.

Another factor was game flow and time. In the game against Chicago, the Spurs fell into a hole early and slowly chipped at the lead. They remained in striking distance throughout the 3rd quarter before going on an absolute frenzy in the 4th.

In this scenario, hope was never lost. In the game against the 76ers, the Spurs held on for as long as possible before getting blown out of the gym in the middle of the third quarter. The sizeable run that the 76ers went on slammed the door shut on any possibility of a comeback.

Don’t expect late-game heroics to become the norm but a fanbase as hot and cold as ours should take some time to enjoy what happened last night. Here’s how it all happened.

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