Victor Wembanyama's 20-20 Game Not Enough as San Antonio Spurs Fall to Chicago Bulls in 16th Straight Loss
The San Antonio Spurs found themselves on the losing end for the 16th game in a row Friday night in a 121-112 loss to the Chicago Bulls at Frost Bank Center.
The Spurs (3-18) were led by rookie Victor Wembanyama, who posted his first-career 20-20 game, becoming the youngest player to ever do so. He finished with 21 points and 20 rebounds to go along with four assists assists and four blocks. San Antonio also got double-digit scoring efforts from Devin Vassell (11 points), Keldon Johnson (20 points), Malaki Branham (10 points), Tre Jones (18 points, nine assists) and Zach Collins (12 points).
For the Bulls (9-14), former Spurs star DeMar DeRozan had an all-around performance in his return to San Antonio. He finished with 20 points, six rebounds and 10 assists. Chicago was led by guard Coby White, who tallied a game-high 24 points to go along with six assists.
Four of Chicago's five starters reached the 20-point mark while veteran Torrey Craig came off the bench to post a season-high 18 points on five made 3s.
Chicago Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan (11) moves in against San Antonio Spurs forward Julian Champagnie (30) and center Victor Wembanyama (1) in the first half at the Frost Bank Center.
© Daniel Dunn, USA TODAY
Despite their losing streak, the Spurs haven't had a tough time building leads in games. Thanks to a first-half double-double from Wemby, 12 points from Jones and four triples from Johnson, San Antonio did so again and headed into halftime with a 63-52 edge over Chicago after leading by as many as 13.
But after trailing 68-57, the Bulls went on a 12-0 in the third quarter to take the lead. Chicago out-scored the Spurs 35-20 in the third after trailing at halftime, which was ultimately the game's turning point.
Chicago then built its largest lead at that point of eight at 114-106 behind two more triples from Craig, who helped widen the gap late in the fourth.
San Antonio had its chances with some good looks on offense down the stretch, but couldn't capitalize and were ultimately hurt by poor defense in the late stages of the game.
The Spurs will visit the Houston Rockets on Monday night at the Toyota Center.
