Chicago Got 30 and 14 From Caleb Wilson. Washington Still Took the Game.

Washington beat Chicago 124-120 on October 24, and the scoreboard hides how wildly this game swung. The Bulls led 62-57 at halftime. The Wizards then dropped 40 in the third quarter while Chicago managed 20. A five-point deficit became a 15-point Washington lead in twelve minutes. Chicago fought back with 38 in the fourth, but the damage from that third period was too expensive to erase.

Trae Young finished with 25 points, nine assists and four rebounds. He shot 6-for-13, made four threes and went a perfect 9-for-9 at the line. I like that balance because it means the Wizards weren't depending on him to hit every jumper. Young could draw fouls, move the ball and keep the offense alive when Chicago tried to crowd his shooting space.

Kyshawn George might have been the most complete player in a Wizards uniform: 22 points, nine rebounds, five assists and four blocks. He went 8-for-17 and contributed at both ends without needing every possession designed around him. Anthony Davis added 19 points and six boards, while Justin Champagnie grabbed 14 rebounds and chipped in eleven points. That is a useful spread of production around Young.

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Chicago had a standout performance of its own. Caleb Wilson scored 30 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, including four offensive boards. He shot 10-for-24 and got to the line eleven times, making nine. Matas Buzelis scored 21, Norman Powell added 18 and Josh Giddey delivered nine points, eight rebounds and ten assists. The Bulls had enough individual production to win; the problem was sustaining it for four quarters.

Washington shot 45-for-94 from the floor and scored 62 points in the paint. Chicago finished 40-for-93 and scored 54 inside. Neither team shot particularly well from three: Washington went 10-for-33 and Chicago 12-for-43. The Wizards didn't win because they were magically hot from outside. They won because they converted more of their work near the rim and didn't let a poor perimeter night stop their offense.

The third quarter is the film session. Washington scored 40, and Chicago answered with just 20. That's not a small wobble. It's the entire margin of the game and then some. Chicago's 38-point fourth proved it could attack the Wizards' defense, but it also raises an obvious question: where was that urgency immediately after halftime? You cannot spend one quarter playing like the opponent has all the answers.

The Wizards had 28 assists, and Chicago recorded 25. Young's nine mattered, but George's five and Davis' four kept the offense from turning into an endless high-screen exercise. Chicago got ten assists from Giddey, yet his playmaking couldn't prevent the third-quarter collapse. That's a reminder that assists are not a substitute for stops. Somebody still has to guard the other end.

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My take: I don't want to hear the easy 'Trae saved Washington' line. He was excellent, but George was a legitimate two-way factor and the Wizards got real help on the boards. This looked more like a team discovering several ways to score than one guard dragging everyone behind him. That matters if Washington wants to be taken seriously beyond one October result.

Chicago should be encouraged by Wilson's 30-and-14 night without using it to excuse the loss. Young players can have breakout performances while the team around them makes the same old mistakes. I don't need to crown Wilson anything after one game. I need to see whether the Bulls can match his effort with defensive discipline, especially coming out of halftime.

The next thing I'm tracking is whether Washington can create the same interior chances against a defense that doesn't give up a 40-point quarter. For Chicago, the issue is consistency: it won the second and fourth quarters but lost the third by twenty. That's how you turn a winnable home game into a loss even when your young forward puts up a monster line.

6IX TAKE

6IX TAKE — Washington's third quarter is the story for me, because a 40-to-20 period changed the entire structure of the game. Chicago's late push made the score respectable, but it could not erase the cost of losing control for twelve minutes. Trae Young's scoring and passing gave Washington direction, yet Kyshawn George's all-around contribution may be the more encouraging sign for the Wizards' long-term identity. Teams that depend on one guard to generate everything are easier to disrupt; teams with several useful contributors can survive an off shooting night. Chicago should take something from Caleb Wilson's production, but individual numbers are not the same as collective execution. I want to see the Bulls defend with urgency before the scoreboard forces them to. Washington earned this win by seizing the decisive stretch, not by playing forty-eight flawless minutes. The real challenge now is repeating that kind of focus without needing a halftime wake-up call.