The Chicago Bulls are 1-7 and are allowing 129.6 points a game — 6.3 more than any other team and 16.2 above this season’s league average of 113.4. They score 111.6. The gap, minus-18.0 a game, is the worst point differential in the league.

Chicago ranks 30th in points allowed, 30th in estimated defensive rating at 119.7 points per 100 possessions against a league average of 110.0, and 30th in its own three-point shooting at 27.2 percent.

Most points allowed per game, through Friday

Every Chicago opponent has scored at least 120 points, and seven of eight have reached 125. The only win came on Oct. 23 in Milwaukee, 132-125, a night the Bucks still scored 125.

The heaviest nights came against Toronto (135 in the opener), Boston (134 on Oct. 26) and New York (135 on Wednesday, when the Knicks led by 44). Jalen Brunson scored 38 and 33 in two Knicks wins; Payton Pritchard had 30 and 28 in two Celtics wins.

Points scored by Bulls opponents, game by game

1. Oct. 21135-92 loss at Toronto to open the season.
2. Oct. 23132-125 at Milwaukee — still the only win.
3. Oct. 24–30Four straight losses, each with 124 or more allowed.
4. Nov. 4135-105 at New York; 84-52 at halftime.

The damage starts early. Chicago has been outscored by 97 points in first quarters — 12.1 a game — and allows 35.9 points per opening quarter, against a league average of 28.3. No other team is worse than minus-40 in the first quarter.

After that the Bulls are close to even: plus-4 in second quarters and minus-1 in fourth quarters. The third quarter adds another minus-50.

Bulls point margin by quarter (8 games)

Opponents are making 15.0 threes a game against Chicago, against a league average of 13.2, and shooting 39.3 percent from deep (27th). They are also getting to the line: 31.6 free-throw attempts a game, six more than the league average of 25.5. And they are grabbing 14.0 offensive rebounds a night, against an average of 12.2.

Meanwhile Chicago’s own offense is not covering the gap. The Bulls shoot 27.2 percent from three, last in the league, and turn the ball over 16.5 times a game.

In team game logs from 2014-15 through 2025-26 — 360 team-seasons — no club allowed more than 129.6 points a game over its first eight games. The previous high was the 2025-26 Wizards at 128.1. Washington finished that season with 17 wins.

Measured against the league average, Chicago’s plus-16.2 also tops the list; the 2019-20 Pelicans, at plus-13.6, had been the worst. The Bulls’ minus-18.0 point differential is a tenth of a point worse than the 2014-15 76ers’ minus-17.9, the low mark for a first eight games in those logs.

Most points allowed per game, first eight games (2014-15 on)

The history cuts both ways. Those 16 teams all improved after their first eight games, but on average they still finished the season 5.5 points a game worse than the league and won about 27 games per 82.

The Bulls host Philadelphia at the United Center on Sunday, Nov. 8, at 3:30 p.m. ET (10:30 p.m. Cairo time). The 76ers are 8-2 and beat Chicago 126-107 on Nov. 2. Nic Claxton, sidelined since training camp with a hamstring injury, is in line for his season debut.

The scoring load sits with rookie Caleb Wilson (19.5 points a game) and Norman Powell (19.2), with Matas Buzelis at 12.9. Coach Tiago Splitter benched Wilson for the rest of the game midway through the third quarter in New York.