Julian Phillips scores a career-high 23 points and Bulls rout Wizards 119-89

CHICAGO (AP) — Julian Phillips scored a career-high 23 points on 7-of-9 shooting, Nikola Vucevic finished with 15 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists and the Chicago Bulls beat the Washington Wizards 119-89 on Friday night.

Matas Buzelis added 20 points and Coby White scored 16 with nine rebounds for the Bulls.

Justin Champagnie led the Wizards with 22 points and 14 rebounds and rookie Bub Carrington had 18 points and a season-high 11 assists. Tristan Vukcevic scored 17 points and Kyshawn George 10.

The Bulls are ninth in the Eastern Conference and will play a loser-out home game against the 10th-place Miami Heat in the play-in on Wednesday.

Takeaways

Chicago Bulls forward Talen Horton-Tucker (22) drives to the basket past Washington Wizards forward Alex Sarr, behind, during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Chicago, Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Wizards: Washington had one of its worst games of its NBA-worst season. The Wizards lost by at least 30 points for the eighth time.

Bulls: Chicago won for the fifth time in six games, despite guard Josh Giddey sitting out with a right hand injury. Giddey joins a select few Bulls — including Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen — to reach 1,000 points, 500 assists, and 500 rebounds in a season.

Key moment

Kevin Huerter hit a 3-pointer about 2 1/2 minutes into the second quarter to give the Bulls a 34-32 lead, and they never trailed again. They dominated the rest of the quarter and led 58-43 at halftime.

Key Stat