CHICAGO — Victor Wembanyama buried a pair of threes inside the final minute and finished with 38 points as the San Antonio Spurs edged the Chicago Bulls 121-117 on Monday night at the United Center, their third straight victory and an 8-2 start to the season. San Antonio closed with a 32-19 fourth quarter to overturn a double‑digit deficit and claim its first road win over Chicago since March 17, 2021, snapping a six-game skid in the series, according to Reuters Sports.
Match highlights
San Antonio surged ahead 34-26 after one behind early perimeter shot-making — De’Aaron Fox drilled a pull-up three and Harrison Barnes added another from deep — but Chicago flipped the tempo in the second quarter. The Bulls poured in 38 points to take a 64-63 halftime lead and then stretched the margin to nine entering the fourth, 98-89. Wembanyama answered with a personal 10-0 burst to start the final frame, and his sixth triple gave the Spurs the lead for good with 27.9 seconds remaining. Quarter-by-quarter, the game swung 34-26, 29-38, 26-34, and 32-19 in San Antonio’s favor in the closing period, per the ESPN box and play-by-play data here.
Wembanyama’s two-way imprint
Beyond the clutch shot-making, Wembanyama dominated both ends: 38 points on 11-for-19 shooting, 6-of-9 from three and 10-for-10 at the line, with 12 rebounds, five assists and five blocks. He became the first player in NBA history to post at least 35 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, five blocks and five three-pointers in a single game — a marker underscoring how his floor-spacing and rim protection are reshaping late-game matchups, per Associated Press figures carried by ESPN and CBS.
The 7-foot-plus center’s impact was most pronounced in the shot diet he forced. Chicago, aggressive and accurate for two quarters, was held to 28 percent shooting (7 for 25) in the fourth. San Antonio, meanwhile, steadied at 43.5 percent (10 for 23) in the final 12 minutes while valuing the ball and controlling the glass.
Supporting casts and key numbers
Fox, in just his second game of the season, added 21 points and repeatedly punctured the first line of defense to set up Wembanyama’s pick-and-pop looks. Rookie guard Stephon Castle delivered a poised double-double — 19 points and 11 assists — managing pace when San Antonio moved away from early-game rushes and back into halfcourt actions. Center Luke Kornet provided 16 points off the bench as a vertical target and screener. Those contributions helped the Spurs absorb 15 turnovers on the night by boosting halfcourt efficiency late.
For Chicago, Kevin Huerter started in place of the injured Josh Giddey (right ankle; day-to-day, Bulls coach Billy Donovan said) and led with 23 points. Ayo Dosunmu and Tre Jones scored 20 apiece, while Jalen Smith (11 points, 12 rebounds) logged a second straight double-double and Nikola Vucevic added 11 points and eight boards. The Bulls led by as many as 10 in the fourth before San Antonio’s 10-0 answer, highlighting the swing nature of a game built on three-point variance and live-ball turnovers late, as reflected in official recaps from Reuters and the ESPN game file.
Advanced indicators underscore how fine the margins were. Over an estimated 102 possessions, the Spurs posted a 118.6 offensive rating to the Bulls’ 114.6 and owned the better effective field-goal percentage (.570 to .527), per RealGM’s box score ledger. Chicago’s slight edge on the offensive glass (24.4% offensive rebounding rate) helped sustain third-quarter momentum, but San Antonio’s shot quality and free-throw advantage down the stretch flipped control.
Tactical trends
San Antonio’s second-half adjustment was clear: slow the pace, re-center the offense through Wembanyama at the elbows and above the break, and use his gravity to spring guards and short-roll bigs. The Spurs’ guards denied rhythm catch-and-shoots better in the fourth — particularly above the break on Huerter and off movement on Dosunmu — while Wembanyama patrolled the back line to dissuade Vucevic post-ups and cutters. Offensively, Castle toggled between handoff initiator and slot driver, which kept Chicago in rotation and opened late-clock kickouts that set the stage for Wembanyama’s dagger threes.
What it means
The win maintains San Antonio’s early-season climb at 8-2 and validates closing-lineup combinations centered on Wembanyama’s spacing and rim deterrence. For Chicago (6-4), the performance showed depth even without Giddey, but it also underscored a recurring late-game theme: generating quality threes against length when the first action is stalled. The Bulls’ first home loss of the season arrived in a game they controlled for long stretches — but the final five minutes belonged to the NBA’s most unique defensive anchor who is also a high-volume, high-efficiency closer from distance.
Next up
The Spurs return to San Antonio to host the Golden State Warriors twice this week at Frost Bank Center — Wednesday, Nov. 12, followed by Friday, Nov. 14 in NBA Cup group play (the latter a Prime Video broadcast listed on national schedules). San Antonio is 5-0 at home entering the homestand; Golden State opened the week at 5-5. Fixture details and broadcast listings are available via ESPN’s schedule pages and national listings, including the Nov. 14 NBA Cup matchup noted on Yahoo’s schedule roundup.
According to ESPN’s game file and Reuters, the Bulls visit the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday as they monitor Giddey’s status. San Antonio’s focus shifts to managing pace against Stephen Curry-led pick-and-rolls and keeping turnovers down — the lone blemish on an otherwise clinical fourth quarter in Chicago.
