Phoenix Suns – Chicago Bulls · NBA

Win probability changed during the game. · 8 November 2023

PHX116–115CHI

Is it worth watching?

The ESPN data for this game contradicts the official result, so it cannot be rated

It measures how much the win probability moved during the game —without looking at who won or at the score— and compares it with the 10,950 NBA games with a curve since 2017. “Highly recommended” is the most intense 20%, “recommended” runs from 50% to 80%, and “skippable” is the rest. Source: ESPN.

↑ CHI winsPHX wins ↓

The last point of this curve falls on CHI's side, but PHX won 116-115. It is an ESPN error at the close of the game: the curve is shown as it is and no conclusion is drawn from it.

Home team's win probability across the game (source: ESPN). The band rises when CHI leads and falls when PHX does.

This is how the game was decided.

Grayson Allen decided it, the Phoenix Suns player with the most points (26, with 8 rebounds and 4 assists; +8 with him on the floor); the winner's best plus-minus was Keita Bates-Diop's (+19). The criterion: the winner's points in the box score; plus-minus says who was on the floor when the game opened up.

The game-winner in Chicago Bulls 115-116 Phoenix Suns (November 8, 2023) was hit by Jusuf Nurkić: a layup with 7.1 s left in overtime, putting the Phoenix Suns up 116-115. They never trailed again.

The biggest run of Chicago Bulls 115-116 Phoenix Suns (November 8, 2023) was a 16-0 run by the Chicago Bulls between the third quarter and the fourth quarter, from 76-88 to 92-88. The Phoenix Suns' best was a 11-0 run in the first quarter (from 11:12 to 8:34), from 3-2 to 14-2.

▸See where these figures come from

Play: Jusuf Nurkic makes driving layup (Kevin Durant assists).

I count as the game-winner the basket that puts the winning team ahead for good. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

A run here is consecutive points by one team without the opponent scoring. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

Source: the game's official box score and play-by-play.

Jusuf Nurkić decided this game: his points put his team ahead with 7.1 seconds left in overtime 1, and the opponent never led again.

It is one of the 4 games he has decided this way in the NBA since the 2002-03 season.

His profile shows the games Nurkić decided

▸See where these figures come from

A game is decided by the last basket that puts a team ahead in the final ten seconds of the fourth quarter or of an overtime, if that team wins.

8 November 2023 · The source is the ESPN play-by-play, play espn:401584790:748; the date is the one on the NBA box score.

Rotations · who was on the floor

Closing lineup · PHX

Durant · Nurkic · Allen · Bates-Diop · Bol

Closing lineup · CHI

LaVine · Vucevic · DeRozan · White · Caruso

Q1Q2Q3Q4OT1

PHX

Kevin Durant

42′ · +5

Jusuf Nurkic

38′ · +12

Grayson Allen

37′ · +8

Keita Bates-Diop

31′ · +19

Bradley Beal

24′ · +16

Eric Gordon

25′ · -16

Josh Okogie

18′ · -18

Yuta Watanabe

18′ · -11

Drew Eubanks

14′ · -12

Jordan Goodwin

17′ · +2

Bol Bol

0′ · 0

CHI

Zach LaVine

41′ · -14

Nikola Vucevic

41′ · -16

DeMar DeRozan

40′ · -3

Coby White

37′ · -11

Torrey Craig

20′ · -24

Alex Caruso

31′ · +24

Patrick Williams

21′ · +18

Andre Drummond

12′ · +15

Jevon Carter

13′ · +10

Ayo Dosunmu

10′ · -4

Each bar is a stint on the floor (source: NBA). The number is minutes played and the team's +/− with him on the court. PHX and CHI.

These lineups played the most minutes together.

Phoenix Suns

Allen, Bates-Diop, Durant, Beal, and Nurkic played 12.6 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 20 points.
Okogie, Watanabe, Eubanks, Durant, and Gordon played 8.2 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.
Allen, Bates-Diop, Goodwin, Durant, and Nurkic played 6.9 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.

Chicago Bulls

Caruso, White, DeRozan, Vucevic, and LaVine played 12.6 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 5 points.
Craig, White, DeRozan, Vucevic, and LaVine played 12.3 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 21 points.
Caruso, Carter, Williams, DeRozan, and Drummond played 6.4 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 12 points.

▸See every lineup of the game

Phoenix Suns

Allen, Bates-Diop, Durant, Gordon, and Nurkic played 6.9 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.
Allen, Goodwin, Durant, Gordon, and Nurkic played 3.2 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.
Okogie, Watanabe, Eubanks, Gordon, and Beal played 2.9 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.
Okogie, Watanabe, Goodwin, Beal, and Nurkic played 2.7 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Allen, Okogie, Durant, Gordon, and Nurkic played 2.2 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 9 points.
Allen, Bates-Diop, Watanabe, Eubanks, and Beal played 2.2 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 7 points.
Allen, Bates-Diop, Goodwin, Beal, and Nurkic played 1.9 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 7 points.
Okogie, Goodwin, Durant, Gordon, and Nurkic played 1.2 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.
Okogie, Watanabe, Eubanks, Goodwin, and Beal played 1.1 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.

Chicago Bulls

Caruso, Craig, White, Vucevic, and LaVine played 5.0 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.
Carter, Williams, Dosunmu, DeRozan, and Vucevic played 3.4 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 3 points.
Caruso, White, Williams, Vucevic, and LaVine played 3.0 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 3 points.
Craig, White, Dosunmu, Vucevic, and LaVine played 2.4 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.
Williams, Dosunmu, DeRozan, Vucevic, and LaVine played 1.9 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Caruso, Carter, Williams, Drummond, and LaVine played 1.7 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
Caruso, White, Williams, Drummond, and LaVine played 1.1 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 7 points.
Carter, Williams, Dosunmu, DeRozan, and Drummond played 1.0 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 7 points.

▸See where these figures come from

The lineups come from the NBA's official rotation: who was on the floor and when. Each lineup's plus-minus is worked out from every player's stints and is only shown when they all add up with each other and with the final score.

Zach LaVine covered 4.92 km, more than anyone in the game.

Kevin Durant touched the ball 103 times, a game high.
Kevin Durant made 70 passes, a game high.
Nikola Vučević defended 12 shots at the rim, a game high, and opponents made 6.
Jusuf Nurkić had 25 rebound chances, a game high.

▸See what was measured for each player

Phoenix Suns

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Grayson Allen	4.62	6.7	74	52
Kevin Durant	4.59	5.8	103	70
Jusuf Nurkić	4.30	5.9	91	67
Keita Bates-Diop	3.91	6.6	31	20
Bradley Beal	2.91	6.4	54	36
Eric Gordon	2.56	5.6	48	37
Josh Okogie	2.35	6.8	25	16
Yuta Watanabe	2.33	6.9	34	25
Jordan Goodwin	2.20	6.8	32	27
Drew Eubanks	1.75	6.7	35	33

Chicago Bulls

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Zach LaVine	4.92	6.5	70	49
Coby White	4.49	6.3	67	49
DeMar DeRozan	4.47	5.9	67	38
Nikola Vučević	4.44	5.7	62	41
Alex Caruso	4.09	7.2	51	40

The figures come from the NBA's optical tracking (NBA.com) for this game; speed is each player's average while on the floor.

Who stood out on defense during the season

These figures cover the whole 2023-24 regular season, not this game.

Phoenix Suns

Jordan Goodwin recovered 0.9 loose balls per game over his 49 games.
He ranks 20 of 373 in the league.
Jusuf Nurkić contested 7.5 shots per game over his 76 games.
He ranks 30 of 373 in the league.
Josh Okogie recovered 0.8 loose balls per game over his 55 games.
He ranks 32 of 373 in the league.

Chicago Bulls

Alex Caruso deflected 3.8 passes per game over his 70 games.
He ranks 1 of 373 in the league.
Coby White recovered 0.9 loose balls per game over his 79 games.
He ranks 19 of 373 in the league.
Nikola Vučević contested 8.2 shots per game over his 76 games.
He ranks 24 of 373 in the league.

Hustle figures come from the hustle stats the NBA publishes (NBA.com) and rim defense comes from its tracking; both cover the regular season. For each player in this game we show the figure that ranks him highest in the league, and for each team, the three best ranked. Ranks count players with at least 30 games and, at the rim, at least 4 defended shots per game.

The Chicago Bulls have won 77 of their 158 games against the Phoenix Suns.

77-81record of the Chicago Bulls · NBA 1968-69 – 2025-26, regular season and playoffs

1-1in 2025-26

See the full head-to-head in the Analyst

See where it comes from

Official NBA box scores, regular season and playoffs, 1968-69 – 2025-26. It counts every game between the two teams that the house holds, this one included.

SportiveWorld knows much more about this game

Game context

Attendance

18.220

87.1% of capacity

United Center · Chicago

Scoring

231

combined points

2.6 above the season average (228.4)

⚖️ The last two minutes

Official NBA L2M report: every call in the endgame, reviewed by the league.

41 calls reviewed3 errors admitted by the NBA

Foul: Shooting · 00:40.7

Nikola Vucevic → Jusuf Nurkic

Vucevic (CHI) initiates contact with Nurkic's (PHX) head, affecting his play at the basket.

Turnover: Traveling · 01:27.3

Jusuf Nurkic → Bulls

Nurkic (PHX) gathers the pass in the air and takes three steps.

Foul: Shooting · 01:37.8

Bradley Beal → Zach LaVine

Beal (PHX) lowers his arm and initiates contact to LaVine's (CHI) arm that affects his driving shot attempt.