San Antonio Spurs carry a nine-game winning streak into the United Center on Wednesday, where they face a Chicago Bulls side that has lost seven in a row and is yet to win at home.

UK viewers can find the NBA schedule tip-off at 1am GMT on Thursday, and the question for a Bulls defence allowing 129.3 points per game is whether anything can slow Victor Wembanyama.

How do the Spurs and Bulls arrive in such different form?

The Spurs are 9-2, unbeaten since 24 October and 5-0 on the road, which puts them second in the Western Conference in the early conference standings.

Their last five wins have come by an average of 17.2 points, and even the one-point home win over Dallas featured a 52-point, 24-rebound, eight-block night from Wembanyama.

The Bulls are 1-8 and 14th in the East, and every game since a 132-125 win at Milwaukee on 23 October has ended in defeat, including a 127-121 home loss to Philadelphia on Sunday.

The defensive record explains most of Chicago's slide, since the Bulls have conceded at least 124 points in all nine games.

The efficiency numbers show the gap, with San Antonio scoring 118.3 points per 100 possessions and allowing 106.7, against 107.4 and 123.6 for Chicago, a net rating of +11.6 against -16.2.

Chicago also loses the possession battle, turning the ball over 16.1 times per game against 13.0 for the Spurs and trailing by more than five rebounds per night.

The Bulls can score at home, averaging 122.7 in their three games at the United Center, but all three ended in defeat because the same defence allowed 128.0 per night.

The schedule gives Chicago a small edge, as the Spurs played at Sacramento and Portland on consecutive nights last week and have had only one day off since the Phoenix game, while the Bulls have had two.

Spurs vs. Bulls team news and rotations

San Antonio have Jayden Quaintance out with a knee problem, while Tobias Harris is a game-time decision with a left calf strain and is still waiting to make his first appearance for the club.

Mitch Johnson has mostly started four guards alongside Wembanyama, with De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper at the heart of that group, and the centre played only 25 minutes in the 122-96 win at Phoenix, which shows how quickly Johnson rests him once a game is settled.

Chicago's list is far longer, with Norman Powell, Nic Claxton, Jalen Smith, Tobe Awaka and Zach Collins all carrying game-time decision tags, so the starting fives posted shortly before tip-off will matter.

Claxton matters most to the matchup, since he missed the first eight games with a hamstring problem, has played once and is the Bulls' main answer to Wembanyama's size, while Isaac Okoro is the likely addition to the starting group if Powell cannot go.

The matchups that could decide San Antonio Spurs vs. Chicago Bulls

Wembanyama against Chicago's frontcourt is the central contest, with Caleb Wilson, Jalen Smith and Claxton, if fit, all likely to share the job of slowing him, a task that proved beyond Chicago when he scored 38 in this building last November.

The backcourt contest is lopsided on depth, since Fox, Castle and Harper give Johnson three ball-handlers who can share the scoring, while Josh Giddey carries most of the playmaking for Chicago, and with the Bulls turning the ball over so often, Fox's pressure on the ball could decide how many easy transition chances the Spurs get.

Best player props for Spurs vs. Bulls

Spurs-Bulls head-to-head history

The Bulls won six straight in this series between February 2023 and January 2025, but the Spurs have won the last two meetings.

The latest was a 129-114 San Antonio win on 30 March, when Wembanyama scored 41 points with 16 rebounds, and the Spurs also took the game in Chicago last November.

Only those two results fall inside the last 12 months, so the Bulls' four wins in the last five meetings at the United Center say more about history than about this season, and Tiago Splitter, who won the 2014 title as a Spurs player, is in his first season in charge of Chicago.

Our Spurs vs. Bulls prediction and betting tips

San Antonio should cover the spread, because four of their last five wins came by 15 or more and Chicago's defence has given up big scores in every game this season, while the over also suits a Spurs side that has scored 119 or more in four of its last five.

Our prediction is a 124-108 Spurs win, with San Antonio's road scoring and Chicago's defensive record pointing to a comfortable margin and a total in the low 230s, since the Bulls' best route to a closer game is Wilson scoring at his season rate while Claxton or Smith keeps Wembanyama out of rhythm.