NBA

Chicago Bulls at Detroit Pistons

· National Basketball Association
6-9, 5-4 Away
Final
122 - 112

7-9, 3-5 Home

Zach LaVine's 16 fourth-quarter points lead Bulls past Pistons 122-112

Zach LaVine catches fire with six 3s in the 4th

The game was tied at 95 with 8:46 left, but LaVine had nine points in a 13-2 run that put the Bulls up by 11 with 5:45 to go. He hit six 3-pointers in the quarter after a slow start.

Nikola Vucevic led the Bulls with 29 points and 12 rebounds while Coby White scored 25.

Cade Cunningham had 26 points and 10 assists for the Pistons and Malik Beasley added 21.

Takeaways Bulls: LaVine has traditionally given the Pistons a hard time, averaging 21.7 points in 28 career games, including a 51-point game last season. They held him to seven points on 3-for-11 shooting, including 1 for 6 on 3-pointers, in the first three quarters. He came back into the game with 8:46 left and hit five of his first six shots, all 3-pointers.

Pistons: Detroit kept the game close for the first 40 minutes, but lost too many Bulls shooters on the perimeter. Chicago shot 23-46 (50%) on 3-pointers, including 7-15 (47%) in the fourth quarter.

Key moment Detroit was trailing 80-75 in the third when they got distracted by not getting a call on defense. Before they regained focus, Josh Giddey tipped in a missed shot, LaVine threw down an uncontested dunk and Vucevic hit a 3-pointer to make it 87-75.

Key stat The Pistons had 16 offensive rebounds to Chicago's 10 and only committed nine turnovers, but they only hit 34% of their 3-pointers while the Bulls were making half of theirs.

Up next The Bulls play Wednesday in Milwaukee. The Pistons visit Charlotte on Thursday.

Regular Season Series

CHI leads series 1-0

Matchup Prediction

Pistons: 60.8%
Bulls: 39.2%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Recent Plays

4th 0.0 End of Game 122 - 112
4th 0.0 End of the 4th Quarter 122 - 112
4th 21.1 Nikola Vucevic defensive rebound 122 - 112
4th 22.0 Ronald Holland II misses driving layup 122 - 112
4th 35.1 Ronald Holland II enters the game for Cade Cunningham 122 - 112

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/chi.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originCHI https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/det.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originDET
44-91 FG 42-98
48.4 Field Goal % 42.9
23-46 3PT 15-44
50.0 Three Point % 34.1
11-14 FT 13-19
78.6 Free Throw % 68.4
46 Rebounds 48
10 Offensive Rebounds 16
36 Defensive Rebounds 32
28 Assists 27
3 Steals 3
5 Blocks 3
10 Turnovers 9
1 Team Turnovers 0
11 Total Turnovers 9
0 Technical Fouls 0
0 Total Technical Fouls 0
0 Flagrant Fouls 0
15 Points Conceded Off Turnovers 11
14 Fast Break Points 13
36 Points in Paint 50
16 Fouls 19
13 Largest Lead 3

Game Information

Little Caesars Arena

Location: Detroit, MI
Attendance: 18,022 · Capacity:

2024-25 Central Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Cleveland 26 4 .867 - W5
Milwaukee 16 12 .571 9 W2
Indiana 15 15 .500 11 W5
Chicago 13 17 .433 13 L2
Detroit 13 17 .433 13 W2
Full Standings

NBA News

Fantasy basketball trade targets: Who to trade, acquire heading into 2025

Fantasy basketball trade targets: Who to trade, acquire heading into 2025

The fantasy crew comes together and details the players that managers should be trading away and trading for at this stage of the NBA season.

Warriors' Kuminga responds to Kerr criticism by starring off bench

Warriors' Kuminga responds to Kerr criticism by starring off bench

After Warriors coach Steve Kerr delivered his most pointed criticism about Jonathan Kuminga's decision-making and shot selection of late, the fourth-year forward responded with one of his best and most aggressive games of the season Monday night.

New York hosts San Antonio on Christmas day

New York hosts San Antonio on Christmas day

San Antonio Spurs (15-14, ninth in the Western Conference) vs. New York Knicks (19-10, third in the Eastern Conference)

Mavericks play the Timberwolves on Christmas day

Mavericks play the Timberwolves on Christmas day

Minnesota Timberwolves (14-14, 10th in the Western Conference) vs. Dallas Mavericks (19-10, fourth in the Western Conference)

Phoenix hosts Denver on Christmas day

Phoenix hosts Denver on Christmas day

Denver Nuggets (16-11, fifth in the Western Conference) vs. Phoenix Suns (14-14, 11th in the Western Conference)