With Josh Giddey stuck in street clothes, the Chicago Bulls looked out of sync to start the night. The terrifying Victor Wembanyama needed just 29 seconds before he was shooting free throws. A little over 30 seconds after that, the recently returned De’Aaron Fox splashed a three. In the blink of an eye, the San Antonio Spurs were up 12-4 and Billy Donovan was calling one of his all-too-familiar early timeouts.

San Antonio would go on to start the night with an 11-0 advantage in fastbreak points and gain a seemingly comfortable 12-point lead heading into the second quarter. I know it was early, but this just didn’t feel like a game where the Giddey and Coby White-less Bulls could hang.

Then, this team’s greatest strength came through once again. You can’t say enough good things about this Chicago Bulls’ bench. Jalen Smith, in particular, has been outstanding over the past couple of games. After scoring a season-high 18 points against the Cavaliers, he came out and dropped 9 points with 7 rebounds and 2 assists in his first 10 minutes of action, taking full advantage of the Victor Wembanyama-less minutes.

Jevon Carter also found his way into a game for only the second time this season, and I guess the Bulls’ second unit juju even rubbed off on him. The guard knocked down two of the team’s six triples in the quarter. Overall, 24 of the team’s 38 points in the frame were scored by the bench, helping Chicago take a 64-63 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The rhythm they started in the second quarter carried over to the third. The Bulls shot 57.1 percent from the field against San Antonio’s 6th-ranked defense. They did a much better job channeling the ball movement that made them so successful over the first few games of the season. Ayo Dosunmu scored or assisted on 14 points in the quarter, and seven of those came on a 10-2 run that gave Chicago its first double-digit lead of the game.

While the Spurs were able to make it a single-digit game again heading into the fourth quarter, this still felt like the Bulls’ game to lose. They had San Antonio on their heels, and all they had to do was right their wrongs from Cleveland and close things out at home.

Unfortunately, that’s a lot easier said than done. In a bitterly familiar fashion, the Bulls shot 7-25 – including a 1-7 showing at the rim – in the final 12 minutes and allowed San Antonio to pull the rug out from under them. Victor Wembanyama was absolutely fantastic down the stretch, scoring 19 points in the quarter and splashing back-to-back clutch triples.

The Bulls were up 114-111 with a minute left, only for The Alien to tie the game from behind the arc. Then, after Tre Jones was stuffed at the rim, a seven-foot-four figment of our imagination called for an ISO on Nikola Vucevic and pulled up for the go-ahead three. It was his sixth of the game.

Kevin Huerter tried to chuck up a prayer one possession later but bricked the shot. The Bulls would ultimately lose 121-117. That’s now death by Giannis, death by Spida, and death by Wemby in three straight games. What a brutal stretch.

Player Grades

Ayo Dosunmu – A-

Stats: 20 PTS, 5 AST, 2 STL

Ayo Dosunmu did everything he could to help the Chicago Bulls stay alive in the second half, including nailing a very clutch three with 1:43 to go. Alas, it wasn’t enough.

Tre Jones – A-

Stats: 20 PTS, 7 AST, 7 REB, 2 STL

Tre Jones filled in serviceably for Josh Giddey and had a solid revenge game. Like Dosunmu, he also came up with some key shots down the stretch.

Kevin Huerter – B+

Stats: 23 PTS, 5 AST, 5 REB

Kevin Huerter looked like his vintage self with a 4-6 showing from downtown. He has been a rock-solid contributor and did just about everything you could ask for from him in a spot start. With that said, he isn’t someone you want with the ball in his hands in do-or-die situations. I felt like he was thrown in that spot tonight.

Jalen Smith – B+

Stats: 11 PTS, 12 REB, 2 AST

Without Jalen Smith, the Bulls wouldn’t have bounced back and made this a game in the second quarter. He now has back-to-back double-doubles!

Matas Buzelis – C+

Stats: 15 PTS, 5 REB, 1 STL, 1 BLK

Considering the difficulty of this matchup—the Spurs have a lot of great size on the wings and some physical defenders—I’d consider this a solid showing from Buzelis. I would have liked to see him try to close things out.

Patrick Williams – C-

Stats: 5 PTS, 4 STL, 2 REB

Billy Donovan leaned on Patrick Williams tonight because of his size and defense. I get it, but it didn’t necessarily pay dividends in the fourth quarter.

Nikola Vucevic – C-

Stats: 11 PTS, 8 REB, 6 AST

On the one hand, Nikola Vucevic needed to step up more with Josh Giddey sidelined. On the other hand… Wemby.

Isaac Okoro – D+

Stats: 2 PTS, 3 AST, 2 REB

Isaac Okoro had five personal fouls and played the fewest minutes of any starter.

Chicago Bulls Box Score

Check out the full box score here.

https://www.bleachernation.com/bulls/2025/11/10/box-score-player-grades-spurs-121-bulls-117-november-10-2025/