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Chicago Bulls defy 97.8% odds against Spurs on Monday

Originally posted on ChiCitySports | By Jordan Sigler | Last updated Jan 7, 2025 10:41 AM ET

The Chicago Bulls are 2-1 in January. After falling to the Eastern Conference’s worst team, the Washington Wizards on Jan. 1, the Bulls rebounded with a win against the New York Knicks on Saturday night when the team celebrated Derrick Rose.

On Monday night, the Bulls started slowly against a middle-of-the-pack San Antonio Spurs team in front of 18,886 fans at the United Center. The Spurs appeared to be pulling away from Chicago early in the contest. San Antonio took a 65-50 lead into halftime.

The Chicago Bulls had less than a 3% chance of winning

After a third quarter that was back and forth, the Bulls didn’t appear to have enough momentum to make a run at the Spurs. Per ESPN analytics, with 11:20 left in the fourth quarter and San Antonio up 97-84, the Spurs had a 97.8% chance of winning Monday night’s game.

Then the Bulls got hot, going on a 15-5 run to make it 102-99 with 6:32 to play. Chicago would continue to chip into the lead, eventually taking a 111-110 lead via a layup by Coby White with 47 seconds left on the clock. The Bulls would prevail with a 114-110 win to improve to 17-19 on the season.

Zach LaVine outplayed Victor Wembanyama

Spurs star Victor Wembanyama was held to 23 points, but was a force on the boards, recording 14 rebounds. He added eight blocks and four assists. Zach LaVine led all scores in the game with 35 points. He added 10 rebounds and eight assists.

The Bulls will next travel to play the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday.

This article first appeared on ChiCitySports and was syndicated with permission.

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