The Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs are facing off on Thursday night at AT&T Center. San Antonio enters this game 11-10 on the season which is a big jump in winning percentage from its 22-60 record last season.

As for the Bulls, they enter this game 9-13. This record is tied for eighth in the Eastern Conference, as there are only five teams in the East with winning records.

Thursday’s game between San Antonio and Chicago will feature star players on both sides, most notably the 7-foot-3 Victor Wembanyama. On Chicago’s side, they will be led by Zach LaVine, who enters this game averaging 21.8 points on the season.

Speaking with reporters ahead of this game, LaVine made a strong statement on Wembanyama.

“I think Wemby is off the charts,” LaVine said (via K.C. Johnson of Chicago Sports News). “I think he’s the best defensive player in the league.”

The Bulls star made a forceful remark, but there are numerous data to support it. Wanyama has been outstanding defensively to begin the season and was the first player to win the NBA’s Western Conference Defensive Player of the Month award.

Wembanyama made the first team All-Defensive the previous season and finished second in the rookie Defensive Player of the Year vote. As a rookie, Wembanyama led the league in blocks (3.6 per game), and this season, he leads the NBA in that statistic as well (3.4 per game).

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