Leonard, Aldridge lead Spurs past Bulls 109-101

SAN ANTONIO (AP) Kawhi Leonard had 29 points and LaMarcus Aldridge had 26 points and 10 rebounds and the San Antonio Spurs won their 31st straight at home to open the season by upending the short-handed Chicago Bulls 109-101 on Thursday night.

Tony Parker added 20 points and had 12 assists for San Antonio, which has won 40 straight at home going back to last season.

The Spurs are off to their best start after 65 games at 55-10.

Derrick Rose and Pau Gasol had 21 points each for the Bulls. E'Twaun Moore had 20 points, going 4 for 5 on 3-pointers.

Chicago was without Jimmy Butler, Joakim Noah and Cameron Bairstow, who were not with the team because of injuries.

Leonard defended Rose early, resulting in Chicago's point guard throwing up a couple of shots wildly while shooting 2 for 7 during the first quarter.

Rose was 6 for 12 from the field in the second half, scoring 13 points with Leonard primarily defending Chicago's other wings.

The Bulls finished with 21 turnovers.

Newly signed Kevin Martin had a point in eight minutes for San Antonio.

TIP-INS

Bulls: Butler missed his second straight game with a strained left knee and his fifth in six games due to the injury. Butler has not played since scoring 24 points in 34 minutes Saturday against Houston. . Official Monty McCutchen twice signaled the wrong possession in the first half, drawing howls from Chicago's bench when he pointed toward San Antonio. McCutchen said ''My mistake,'' on his initial error and then proceeded to point toward San Antonio again. He chuckled as the Bulls yelled, correcting his mistake and eliciting sarcastic cheers from surrounding fans. ... Chicago coach Fred Hoiberg was assessed a technical foul with 2:38 remaining in the game when Parker was not whistled for raking Taj Gibson across the right arm on a dunk attempt.

Spurs: Tim Duncan became the sixth player in league history with 15,000 rebounds, completing the feat midway through the first quarter. He finished with seven points and three rebounds, raising his total to 15,001. . San Antonio waived Rasual Butler on Wednesday to make room for Martin. Rookie forward Jonathon Simmons did not dress Thursday, enabling Martin to play.

UP NEXT

Bulls: Host Miami on Friday.

Spurs: Host Oklahoma City on Saturday.