Victor Wembanyama delivered one of his most dominant performances of the season Monday night, finishing with 41 points and 16 rebounds to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 129-114 victory over the Chicago Bulls at Frost Bank Center.
The Spurs improved to 57-18 and extended their winning streak to nine games, maintaining pressure near the top of the Western Conference standings.
Wembanyama set the tone early with a historic start, recording 10 points and 10 rebounds in just eight minutes and 31 seconds.
The 7-foot-4 center dominated the interior and shot efficiently throughout the night, finishing 17-of-27 from the field and 3-of-6 from three-point range. His final basket came midway through the fourth quarter when he drove into the lane and finished with a one-handed dunk.
The outing marked Wembanyama’s 14th game with at least 30 points this season and continued a stretch in which San Antonio has consistently controlled games through interior scoring and rebounding.
Stephon Castle delivered a near triple-double with 21 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds while orchestrating the offense. The Spurs also placed six players in double figures and shot 51 percent from the field.
San Antonio broke the game open in the third quarter, building a lead that grew to 29 points. The Spurs finished with a 55-35 rebounding advantage and collected 16 offensive boards that created repeated second-chance opportunities.
Tre Jones led Chicago with 23 points in his first game in San Antonio since being traded to the Bulls in the deal that brought De’Aaron Fox to the Spurs earlier this season.
Leonard Miller added 21 points and Collin Sexton finished with 20 for Chicago, which dropped its fourth consecutive game and fell to 29-46.
The Bulls started aggressively despite pregame turmoil. Chicago waived injured guard Jaden Ivey earlier in the day for conduct detrimental to the team, but the decision did not affect the opening minutes.
Matas Buzelis energized the visitors with an uncontested dunk that gave Chicago a 5-2 lead just over a minute into the game. Spurs coach Mitch Johnson immediately called timeout, and San Antonio responded with a 20-13 run fueled by Wembanyama’s early double-double.
From that point, the Spurs controlled the tempo and spacing, using ball movement and rebounding to steadily widen the margin.
San Antonio travels to face the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday, while Chicago returns home to host the Indiana Pacers.
