San Antonio turned a 22-point deficit into a 124–119 victory over Chicago on Wednesday 11 November (US time), extending its winning streak to 10 games and leaving the Bulls with an eighth consecutive defeat. Victor Wembanyama scored 32 points, but the bigger difference was how the Spurs reclaimed possession of a game Chicago had seemingly taken apart. The Bulls shot 57.9 per cent from the field and 15-of-29 from three. They still lost because San Antonio forced 19 turnovers while committing just six. That’s an extraordinary amount of wasted good shooting. The Spurs’ official final box score tells the story in two very different columns: Chicago's accuracy and San Antonio's control.
For a quarter and a half, Chicago looked capable of ending the streak emphatically. The Bulls poured in 41 first-quarter points, hitting 17 of their first 20 field-goal attempts, and stretched their advantage to 22 in the second period. Jalen Smith was almost flawless: 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting, including five threes without a miss. Chicago went to half-time ahead 70–56. It had found open shots, made them and given San Antonio a problem that couldn't be solved simply by waiting for its own offence to warm up.
Then the game changed shape. San Antonio began the third with seven straight points, and Chicago's offence started handing away the ball. Eight Bulls turnovers in the period helped turn a 14-point half-time advantage into a 90–89 deficit entering the fourth. The Spurs won that third quarter 34–19 despite Chicago shooting 7-of-14 from the floor. That contrast matters: the Bulls weren't missing everything, but they weren't getting enough attempts. The contemporary Reuters report confirms both the third-quarter turnover surge and the decisive opening to the final period.
Wembanyama supplied the finish. He made 13 of 18 shots, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked five attempts in just under 32 minutes. San Antonio opened the fourth with an 11–2 run, with Stephon Castle contributing five points and Wembanyama four, and eventually pushed the lead to 15. The 7-foot-4 centre's combination of efficient finishing and rim protection made the comeback difficult to reverse: Chicago could no longer count on the clean drives and unhurried possessions that had fuelled its early lead. The Bulls’ own post-game coverage records the defeat from Chicago's side.
Dylan Harper's contribution deserves equal attention. The rookie guard produced 18 points, 10 assists, six rebounds and four steals in 35 minutes and 48 seconds, without a turnover. That's a particularly striking contrast with Chicago's lead creator, Australian Josh Giddey, who finished with nine points and seven assists but also seven turnovers in 25 minutes. Harper wasn't the most accurate scorer at 7-of-18, yet he kept making the possessions around him valuable. De'Aaron Fox added 17 points and nine assists, giving the Spurs another organiser while Wembanyama applied pressure at the rim.
The team totals show why this wasn't simply a story of one superstar rescuing a poor start. San Antonio finished with 32 assists, 16 steals and only six giveaways. Chicago had 33 assists, but just three steals and 19 turnovers. The Spurs also won the scoring battle 68–49 after half-time. Even when the Bulls moved the ball well enough to produce good looks, their mistakes were creating a second, more damaging game: San Antonio attacking before Chicago could organise its defence. The full player and quarter-by-quarter record also shows Chicago's 41–29 first-quarter edge turning into a 34–19 Spurs third quarter.
Chicago's frustration will be sharper because the early offence was genuinely excellent, not a lucky burst of difficult shots. Smith made all five of his threes, Nic Claxton added 17 points off the bench and Caleb Wilson scored 15 before leaving in the third quarter with a right-hand injury, as reported after the game. But Giddey's seven turnovers and Matas Buzelis's six made the ball-security problem impossible to ignore. The Bulls had enough shooting to win and enough passing to create it; they couldn't protect the ball long enough to sustain either advantage. Their eighth straight loss leaves a much clearer tactical issue than simply asking for better shooting.
For San Antonio, a tenth consecutive win now comes with a useful distinction: this team can survive being comprehensively outshot for long stretches because its defence and decision-making can manufacture extra opportunities. Wembanyama's 32 points will take the headline, and rightly so. Harper's clean playmaking and the Spurs' 16 steals explain how they got the ball back often enough for those points to matter. Chicago won the shooting contest. San Antonio won the possession contest — and the game.
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