The Chicago Bulls extended their dominance of the Detroit Pistons to two continents Thursday as they never trailed in a 126-108 victory in Paris, France, the first NBA game in Europe since 2020.
Zach LaVine poured in 30 points as the Bulls defeated their Central Division rival for the 13th consecutive time.
DeMar DeRozan racked up 26 points, nine rebounds and five assists as seven Bulls scored in double figures. Nikola Vucevic had 16 points, 15 rebounds and six assists, Ayo Dosunmu contributed 13 points, Derrick Jones Jr. supplied 12 and Coby White and Patrick Williams added 10 apiece for Chicago.
In their last meeting, LaVine fired in 43 points during a 132-118 Bulls home win over Detroit on Dec. 30.
Bojan Bogdanovic led the Pistons with 25 points. Hamidou Diallo tossed in 17 points, while Saddiq Bey and Jaden Ivey had 16 points apiece. Jalen Duren added 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Killian Hayes, who grew up in France, was limited to four points on 2-for-13 shooting.
LaVine made a 3-pointer with eight minutes left in the first half to give Chicago a 47-35 lead. Williams made a corner 3-pointer with five minutes remaining for a 55-41 advantage.
Detroit whittled away at the lead and closed to 61-54 on a Bogdanovic layup with a minute left in the half. The Bulls finished the half with a 65-56 lead. DeRozan and Vucevic combined for 30 points, while Bogdanovic led Detroit with 16.
The Bulls opened the second half with a 15-6 spurt to increase the lead to 80-62. LaVine had six points and an assist during that stretch.
The Pistons cut the deficit to nine points but Chicago nudged the advantage to 14, 93-79, entering the fourth.
Isaiah Livers made a 3-pointer with 7:36 left to cut the Bulls’ lead to single digits and soon made another to make it an eight-point game at 105-97.
Jones answered with a dunk and the Pistons were unable to cut the deficit into single digits again.
The Bulls played two preseason contests in Paris in 1997. The Pistons were playing in France for the first time.
–Field Level Media