The Oklahoma City Thunder shocked pretty much the entire league on Thursday night when they traveled to Philadelphia to take on Joel Embiid, James Harden, and the Sixers, coming away with a 133-114 victory despite being a 10-point underdog. OKC has won 8 of their last 13 outings with wins including the Grizzlies, Blazers (twice), Celtics , Mavericks, and Sixers.
Tonight the Thunder continues their road trip as they take on the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls are just 19-23 on the season—same as the Thunder—and they have lost two in a row. The Bulls have won 4 of their last 5 in Chicago, but they are missing DeMar DeRozan. OKC is also playing in the second game of a back-to-back, so both teams have certain odds stacked against them. In the end, this should make for a quality Friday night matchup.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 7 PM CT
Location: United Center (Chicago, Illinois)
Television: Bally Sports Oklahoma
Radio: WWLS 98.1FM OKC The Sports Animal
Twitter: Follow @ZacharyLowNBA for live tweets and discussion during the game
Game Notes: Oklahoma City Thunder Official Game Notes, Chicago Bulls Official Game Notes
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Josh Giddey
- SF: Jalen Williams
- PF: Luguentz Dort
- C: Eugene Omoruyi
Bulls
- PG: Ayo Dosunmu
- SG: Zach Lavine
- SF: DeMar DeRozan
- PF: Patrick Williams
- C: Nikola Vucevic
Injury Report
Thunder
- Ousmane Dieng is OUT (non-displaced fractured right wrist).
- Chet Holmgren is OUT (right foot surgery).
- Aleksej Pokusevski is OUT (left tibial plateau; non-displaced fracture).
- Jeremiah Robinson-Earl is OUT (sprained right ankle).
Bulls
- Lonzo Ball is OUT (left knee surgery).
- Tony Bradley is OUT (health and safety protocols).
- DeMar DeRozan is DOUBTFUL (strained right quadricep).
- Javonte Green is OUT (right knee surgery).
- Carlik Jones is OUT (G League — two-way).
- Zach Lavine is PROBABLE (right hand contusion).
- Marco Simonovic is OUT (G League — on assignment).
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 17-11 against the Bulls (10-5 at home, 7-6 away).
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder has won the season series against the Bulls 5 times, lost it twice, and tied 7 times.
- The Thunder went 0-2 against the Bulls so far this season (0-1 at home, 0-1 on the road).
- The Thunder is 1-0 against the Bulls so far this season (1-0 at home, 0-0 on the road).