National Basketball Association
Chicago 139, San Antonio 124
When: 8:00 PM ET, Thursday, December 5, 2024
Where: Frost Bank Center, San Antonio, Texas
Officials:
#82 Suyash Mehta, #39 Tyler Ford, #21 Dedric Taylor
Attendance:
17720
By Field Level Media
Nikola Vucevic poured in a season-high 39 points and Ayo Dosunmu added a season-best 27 points to go with 11 assists and 10 rebounds for his first career triple-double as the visiting Chicago Bulls defeated the San Antonio Spurs 139-124 on Thursday.
The Bulls led by 11 points heading into the fourth quarter after fending off a tepid San Antonio run late in the third period. The Spurs pared the margin to 130-122 on two Keldon Johnson free throws with 3:18 remaining, but Chicago reeled off nine straight points, capped by Vucevic's banked layup with 1:31 left, to cement the win.
Talen Horton-Tucker scored 13 points for the Bulls, who won their second game in a row. Zach LaVine had 11 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, Dalen Terry hit for 12 points and Matas Buzelis added 11.
Johnson logged 28 points off the bench for the Spurs. Devin Vassell had 17 points, Jeremy Sochan amassed 16 points and 14 rebounds, and Chris Paul, Stephon Castle and Julian Champagnie scored 12 points apiece. Paul dished out nine assists.
San Antonio played without star center Victor Wembanyama (sore back) and dropped its second straight game and third in its past four.
The Bulls owned the first quarter, taking a 36-22 lead behind 11 points from Dosunmu.
Chicago pushed the gap to 20 points on Buzelis' dunk with 2:43 remaining in the second quarter. Charles Bassey's floating jumper with 14.9 seconds left brought the Spurs to within 14, before Vucevic's putback layup in the final second granted the visitors a 73-57 advantage at the break.
Vucevic and Dosunmu led the Bulls with 13 points apiece before halftime, while Chicago outshot San Antonio 60 percent to 43.1 percent. Johnson paced San Antonio with 11 points.
Overall on the night, the Bulls hit 57.8 percent of their field-goal attempts while the Spurs sank 46.3 percent. Chicago had an even wider margin from 3-point range, drilling 45.9 percent (17 of 37) to San Antonio's 28.6 percent (8 of 28).
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
Chicago |
|
San Antonio |
Nikola Vucevic 39 |
Scoring |
Keldon Johnson 28 |
Ayo Dosunmu 11 |
Assists |
Chris Paul 9 |
Ayo Dosunmu 10 |
Rebounds |
Jeremy Sochan 14 |
Ayo Dosunmu 6 |
Free Throws Made |
Stephon Castle 8 |
Ayo Dosunmu 3 |
Steals |
Devin Vassell 4 |
Julian Phillips 2 |
Blocks |
Zach Collins 2 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Chicago
|
139 |
57.8 |
17-37 |
18-23 |
36 |
50 |
5 |
6 |
19 |
San Antonio
|
124 |
46.3 |
8-28 |
28-39 |
26 |
41 |
4 |
11 |
11 |
Upcoming Games
-
San Antonio will play their next game at home against Sacramento. The Spurs have a W/L % of .455 after a win and .545 after a loss.
-
Chicago will play their next game at home against Indiana. The Bulls have a W/L % of .200 after a win and .615 after a loss.