Rob Dillingham’s career-high 26 points off the bench highlighted a balanced scoring effort as the Chicago Bulls rolled to a 129-98 rout of the host Washington Wizards on Tuesday.
Chicago (30-49) left little doubt on the way to snapping a seven-game losing streak, pouncing on Washington (17-62) with an 9-0 run midway the first quarter. The opening salvo gave the Bulls a lead they held the rest of the way, extending to as many as 37 points behind the trio of Dillingham, Tre Jones and Patrick Williams.
Jones put up 20 points, his third effort of 19-plus points in his past five games, and he wound up one assist shy of his first double-double since January.
Williams added 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
The three combined to outscore Washington on their own in the first quarter, producing 21 of Chicago’s 38 points. The Bulls held the Wizards to just 18 in the period.
Chicago’s Collin Sexton posted 15 points, a team-high nine rebounds and seven assists. Thirty-five of the Bulls’ 46 made field goals were assisted.
Leonard Miller and Isaac Okoro rounded out the dominant Bulls performance with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
Chicago’s defensive effort was likewise among the team’s best of the season, with the 98 points allowed tying the Bulls’ second-lowest yield. The Bulls held Will Riley to just two points after the rookie logged career highs in the both of the previous two contests with 30 and 31 points.
Riley shot just 1-for-13 from the floor, including 0-for-5 from 3-point range, and the Wizards went 11-for-38 (28.9%) from beyond the arc. Washington also committed 22 turnovers that the Bulls converted into 22 points.
Bilal Coulibaly led the Wizards with 19 points. First-year forward Julian Reese posted his fourth double-double in his 10 NBA games, going for 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Sharife Cooper added another 17 points off the bench as Washington lost its seventh game in a row and fell for the 23th time in 24 games. Bub Carrington had 14 points and Jamir Watkins recorded 13.
