The Oklahoma City Thunder tipped off the regular season with a big win over the Nuggets in Denver. Defense was the name of the game as the Thunder racked up 7 steals and 13 blocks while holding the Nuggets to just 87 points, and while OKC didn’t shoot the ball all that great as a team, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander picked up right where he left off last season as he poured in 28 points on 11-of-24 (45.8%) from the field and 2-of-6 (33.3%) from three. Chet Holmgren added 25 points of his own, and Aaron Wiggins tallied 15 points off the bench.
Now the Thunder takes on the Chicago Bulls in the first game of a back-to-back before the home opener in OKC tomorrow night against the Atlanta Hawks. The Bulls and the Thunder have recent history as they swapped Alex Caruso and Josh Giddey over the summer, but it will be fun to see the players go up against their former teams. With that in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising if the game had another level of intensity and closeness.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 7 PM CT
Location: United Center (Chicago, Illinois)
Television: FanDuel Sports Network – 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: Isaiah Joe
- SF: Luguentz Dort
- PF: Jalen Williams
- C: Chet Holmgren
Bulls
- PG: Josh Giddey
- SG: Coby White
- SF: Zach Lavine
- PF: Patrick Williams
- C: Nikola Vucevic
Injury Report
Thunder
- Isaiah Hartenstein (fractured left hand) is OUT.
- Nikola Topic (left ACL surgery recovery) is OUT.
- Jaylin Williams (strained right hamstring) is OUT.
- Kenrich Williams (right knee surgery recovery) is OUT.
Bulls
- Lonzo Ball (left knee surgery injury management) is PROBABLE.
- E.J. Liddell (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- DJ Steward (G League — two-way) is OUT.
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 19-11 against the Bulls (11-5 at home, 8-6 away).
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder has won the season series against the Bulls 7 times, lost it twice, and tied 7 times.
- The Thunder went 2-0 against the Bulls last season (1-0 at home, 1-0 on the road).
- The Thunder has won