The San Antonio Spurs may have beaten the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday, 124-119, but their performance is not safe from criticism. They allowed the Bulls to come out of the gate firing, with San Antonio falling behind by 22 points in the second quarter.

While their rally back was commendable, the fact of the matter is that a one-win team should not be able to establish such a lead against the Spurs in the first place. Jalen Smith lit them up for 23 points, making all five of his 3-pointers, and the Spurs did not look like a defensive juggernaut, especially early.

With their tenth win in a row under their belt, they should be able to move on from the ugly outing without too much trouble, but they will need to polish their performances, especially with the scorching Golden State Warriors coming to town on Friday.

READ MORE: Spurs Rally in Second Half to Beat Bulls

READ MORE: Why 'Unstoppable' Dylan Harper Is Victor Wembanyama's Favorite Player to Watch

READ MORE: San Antonio Spurs Relish 'True Point Guard' Who Does the Dirty Work

Devin Vassell is one of the more physical players on the roster, and he did not suit up as he deals with a nagging thigh injury. Still, Julian Champagnie is no slouch, and the trio of Spurs' guards seems to enjoy getting into the mix.

That was not on display on Wednesday.

"We did not come out with any sort of physical resistance, which was pretty evident in every way," said Mitch Johnson of the first-half effort. "We were not touching them when they dribbled the ball on the floor. We weren't touching them when they caught it. We're all mixed signals on a bunch of stuff with two or three men involved, which was lack of communication or it's harder communication when everybody's a step later, out of spot, out of position. It was just a really sloppy performance from us defensively in the first half."

As the Spurs rallied, though, Johnson's tune changed.

"They responded and played with the appropriate level of discipline, execution, physicality, and competitiveness," he added. "And that's what they're capable of. We just obviously need to do that more consistently."

The Spurs have benefited from a fairly easy schedule to start the season, but with teams like the Warriors, Pistons, Lakers, and Celtics looming to finish the month, the team will have to be a bit more polished if they want to continue to dominate the opposition.