Tip-Off: 8 PM CT
Location: United Center (Chicago, Illinois)
Television: Fox Sports Oklahoma
Radio: WWLS 98.1FM OKC The Sports Animal
Twitter: Follow @ZacharyLowNBA for live-tweets and discussion during the game
The Oklahoma City Thunder is an interesting position after picking up yet another win on Sunday. Despite missing 4 regular starters, the Thunder pulled off 128-122 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies Sunday afternoon to move to 17-22 on the season. They’re just out of reach of playoffs, and they’re not exactly losing enough to be in a prime position for the top pick in the upcoming NBA Draft.
Still, the question remains: to tank or not to tank? Many fans want the Thunder to do their best to win games and try to sneak into the playoffs. Those who are more forward thinking say that OKC should lose as many games as possible in order to get a chance at a top-4 pick. Regardless of what fans want, even the front office cannot control the outcome of these matchups. We’re dealing with professional basketball players here, and they want to win every single time they step out onto the court.
Tonight, the Thunder takes on the Chicago Bulls in the first game of a 4-game road trip. The Bulls are just 17-20 on the season, but at 9th in the Eastern Conference standings, they are in position to make a push for the playoffs. OKC is short-handed once again, but like we tend to say pretty much every night around here, don’t count the Thunder out, especially with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the floor.
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Théo Maledon
- SF: Kenrich Williams
- PF: Aleksej Pokuševski
- C: Moses Brown
Bulls
- PG: Zach Lavine
- SG: Tomáš Satoranský
- SF: Patrick Williams
- PF: Thaddeus Young
- C: Lauri Markkanen
Injuries
Thunder
- Trevor Ariza is OUT (not with team).
- Darius Bazley is OUT (left shoulder contusion).
- Luguentz Dort is QUESTIONABLE (sprained left great toe).
- Josh Hall is OUT (sore left knee).
- George Hill is OUT (right thumb surgery).
- Al Horford is OUT (rest).
- Svi Mykhailiuk is AVAILABLE.
Bulls
- Devon Dotson is PROBABLE (sprained right knee).
- Garrett Temple is OUT (sprained left ankle).
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 16-8 against the Bulls (9-4 at home, 7-4 away).
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder has won the season series against the Bulls 5 times, lost it once, and tied 6 times.
- The Thunder won the season series against the Bulls 2-0 (1-0 at home, 1-0 on the road) a year ago.
- The Thunder has won 4 consecutive games against the Bulls.