Chicago follows a 127–111 home victory with another offensive performance, defeating Cleveland 136–125 despite 35 points from Darius Garland.
Chicago Bulls 136 · Cleveland Cavaliers 125
Game date: Dec 19, 2025 · America/Chicago
Published: Oct 13, 2026
Professional · Basketball · NBA
CLEVELAND: The Chicago Bulls had beaten the Cavaliers by 16 points at the United Center on Wednesday.
Two nights later, they proved the result was not a one-game accident.
Matas Buzelis and Nikola Vučević scored 24 points apiece Friday as Chicago defeated Cleveland 136–125, completing a two-game sweep of the Cavaliers and winning consecutive games for the first time in a month.
The victory was particularly notable because the Bulls were not relying on one extraordinary scorer.
Seven Chicago players finished in double figures.
Josh Giddey added 17 points, while Tre Jones contributed 16 off the bench.
Vučević also collected 15 rebounds, providing the interior presence Chicago needed to protect its advantage during the final quarter.
Cleveland received 35 points from Darius Garland.
It was not enough.
The first meeting establishes the blueprint
Chicago had entered Wednesday's home matchup needing to change its recent results.
The Bulls responded with a 127–111 victory.
Giddey recorded 23 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, producing the 24th triple-double of his NBA career.
Coby White added 25 points.
Donovan Mitchell scored 32 for Cleveland, but the Cavaliers could not overcome Chicago's second-half production.
The Bulls outscored Cleveland 65–53 after halftime.
The 16-point final margin was Chicago's largest victory of the season to that point.
The game demonstrated that the Bulls could attack Cleveland through a combination of ball movement, perimeter scoring and rebounding.
The challenge Friday was repeating that production on the road.
Cleveland answers early
The rematch began evenly.
Both teams scored 32 points in the first quarter.
That opening suggested Cleveland had adjusted enough to prevent another comfortable Chicago victory.
But the Bulls created separation in the second period.
Chicago scored 34 points and held the Cavaliers to 23.
The 11-point advantage gave the Bulls a 66–55 halftime lead.
That was an important scoring cushion against a team capable of producing rapid offensive runs.
Cleveland attempted to recover during the third quarter, scoring 44 points.
The Cavaliers reduced Chicago's advantage and placed the Bulls under renewed pressure.
For a team that had previously struggled to protect leads, the response was critical.
Vučević owns the final quarter
Chicago entered the fourth quarter needing to finish.
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With 3:37 remaining Thursday night, Chicago had reduced Portland's advantage to 108–105.
Vučević supplied the stability.
He scored 11 points and collected six rebounds during the final period, helping the Bulls outscore Cleveland 35–26.
The center's production mattered because the Cavaliers had repeatedly generated offense inside.
Cleveland finished with 62 points in the paint.
Chicago answered with 58 of its own.
The Bulls did not need to eliminate every Cleveland interior opportunity.
They needed to remain productive enough to prevent the Cavaliers from taking control.
Vučević's fourth-quarter scoring provided that response.
His 15 rebounds also helped Chicago secure possessions and limit additional opportunities.
Buzelis keeps developing
Buzelis' 24 points offered another encouraging example of his offensive progression.
The young forward has the athleticism to influence games in transition and the ability to score from different areas.
But consistent performance against established NBA opponents is the true measure of development.
Cleveland's roster presents difficult defensive assignments.
Buzelis responded with one of Chicago's leading performances.
His production was especially valuable because the Cavaliers were missing Donovan Mitchell due to illness.
Although Cleveland still possessed considerable offensive talent, Chicago needed to take advantage of an opponent operating without one of its primary scorers.
Buzelis helped accomplish that.
Chicago's bench helps finish the assignment
The Bulls received 55 bench points Friday.
That production contributed to the team's ability to maintain scoring pressure through different lineup combinations.
Cleveland's reserves supplied 49.
The comparison was not as dramatic as some of Chicago's earlier games, but it remained favorable.
Jones' 16 points gave Donovan another effective option.
The Bulls also committed only 12 turnovers, compared with Cleveland's 15.
Chicago converted the Cavaliers' mistakes into 21 points.
Those details contributed to the result.
A team that scores efficiently while protecting possession makes it significantly harder for an opponent to complete a comeback.
A two-game sweep with meaning
Chicago's consecutive victories over Cleveland represented an important response after a difficult stretch.
The Bulls had not won back-to-back games since November 19.
Now they had defeated the same opponent twice in three days.
The first victory came through a strong second half at home.
The second required surviving Cleveland's third-quarter surge and producing another effective final period on the road.
Those differences matter.
Chicago demonstrated that it could win through multiple contributors rather than depending exclusively on one favorable matchup.
Buzelis and Vučević supplied 48 combined points.
Giddey and Jones added another 33.
And the Bulls generated 136 points against an Eastern Conference opponent with postseason expectations.
The next challenge is consistency.
Chicago has demonstrated it can produce spectacular offensive performances.
The organization must now determine whether those results can become dependable rather than occasional.
For two games against Cleveland, the Bulls found a formula that worked.
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