Bulls use 11-0 run to close out Spurs |
CHICAGO - Even with this being a new year and the Calendar turning to 2025, this is still the same old Chicago Bulls (17-19). Two days after playing arguably their best game of the season against the New York Knicks, the Bulls returned to the United Center to face off against the San Antonio Spurs (18-18).
This was one of those games where the Bulls got down early and found themselves in a familiar position as the Spurs built up a 19-point lead at one point in this game. Typically, teams begin to crumble when that happens, but playing from behind and facing large deficits are things the Bulls have become accustomed to this season. Trailing by 13 points entering the fourth, the Bulls turned up the heat as they not only began to battle back, but battled back in a big way to outscore the Spurs 32-15 across the final 12 minutes. That included an 11-0 run to end the game, anchored by the Coby White poster over big-man Victor Wembanyama to lead the Bulls to the 114-110 victory. That run started with back-to-back triples from Zach Lavine to pull the Bulls within one, and the rest is history. Lavine is one of those guys quietly putting together one of the best seasons of his career, and that continued in this one as he led all scorers with 35 points. Lavine added 10 rebounds and eight assists as he did a little bit of everything in this one. For the Bulls to be at their best, they need their big three of White, Lavine, and Nikola Vucevic to come through, and all three did that in a massive way by scoring more than 20 points in the win. Vucevic continued to go about his business by picking up his fifth straight double-double and eighth in his last nine to finish with 24 points and 11 boards. You then had White finish with 23 points, including the massive dunk to deliver the knockout blow late. Those were the primary producers for the Bulls lineup, but with Patrick Williams adding 12 points, it gave Chicago a quartet of double-digit scorers. Josh Giddey struggled to find the bucket with six points, while Jalen Smith (9 points) and Lonzo Ball (5 Points) picked up the only points off the bench for the Bulls. After struggling to find wins last season, the Spurs are a vastly improved team, which bodes well for their future. Wembanyama is a massive reason for that, as the Frenchman continues to impress with 23 points and 14 rebounds. He also showed off his defensive skill by blocking eight shots from the Bulls and was a menace all night. Unlike the Bulls, who had three players who scored at least 20 points, he was the only Spurs player to reach the 20-point mark, but they had eight total players who landed in double figures. That includes their entire starting five, with Chris Paul adding 18 points and nine assists and Jeremy Sochan adding 11. You also had Devin Vessel (11 points) and Harrison Barnes (10 points) come through at times, as balanced scoring was the name of the game for the Spurs. The biggest reason for the Spurs to lead up until the bitter end was the lack of play by the Bulls bench and the outstanding play from the Spurs' second unit. Not only did one player nearly outscore the entire Bulls bench, with Julian Champagnie coming away with 12 points, but the Spurs bench dropped 37 points compared to just 14 from Chicago. Keldon Johnson and Stephon Castle combined to add 21 more points, with Johnson picking up 11 and Castle 10, in another remarkable comeback win for the Bulls. With the win, Chicago swept the season series against the Spurs and has now won four of its last five games. Chicago will look to remain hot when it heads to Indiana on Wednesday to take on the Pacers.
WINDY CITY DOMINATES GRAND RAPIDS IN COMPLETE-GAME VICTORY
It took long enough, but the Windy City Bulls (3-3) finally put forth an effort worth talking about, delivering their best performance of the season. The performance came against the Grand Rapids Gold (2-3), and it came in front of the home fans at the NOW Arena, where they were treated to some impressive early afternoon basketball.
All it took for the Bulls to get rolling was an impressive 29-19 opening quarter as the Windy City Bulls grabbed the early lead and never looked back. In fact, they managed to outscore Grand Rapids in all four quarters, which typically ends in your favor as the Bulls secured their second straight victory with an impressive 124-94 showing.
Leading the way for Windy City was a pair of 20-point scorers as EJ Liddell and Marcus Domask paced the Bulls with 21 points. Domask put together an all-around solid game by adding seven rebounds and five assists, while Liddell pulled down 10 boards for the double-double. They were two of the seven double-digit scorers for Windy City, which included all five starters.
Adama Sanogo has had a down season this year compared to last season, but with 16 points and seven boards, he is trending in the right direction. Alex Schumacher continues to improve with an increase in playing time to finish with 14 points, with the newly acquired Emanuel Miller rounding out the starting five with 12 points and eight boards.
Windy City also benefitted from a strong bench presence. David Muoka led the way with 14 points, with Ben Coupet Jr. rounding things out with 10. Like Windy City, Grand Rapids had a pair of big-time performances, and both came from the starting lineup. PJ Hall was a man on a mission, leading all scorers with 23 points and grabbing 10 boards.
Hall was joined by Tevian Jones and his 22 points, with Trey Alexander adding 19 points. Those were three main threats for the Grand Rapids offense, who also saw Gabe McGlothan add 10 points off the bench, but this was dominated by the Bulls, who made things look easy.
