The Oklahoma City Thunder is not only the league’s best team right now, but they are the hottest team in the NBA as they carry a 9-game win streak into Monday night’s matchup with the Chicago Bulls. OKC is an astonishing 27-1 against the Eastern Conference, and a win tonight over the Bulls would give the Thunder their second double-digit win streak of the season.
Don’t count the Bulls out, though. They’ve done quite well for themselves lately, winning 9 of their last 12 games to move to 9th in the Eastern Conference with a record of 33-41. Chicago has one of the easiest remaining strengths of schedule—tonight obviously not being part of that—and they would like to move up in the standings for better playoff positioning. They trail the 8th-place Orlando Magic by 2.5 games, though, so they have their work cut out for them.
Plenty of players on both sides are questionable to play tonight, and while OKC can afford to sit guys out, you can’t ever expect them just to roll over and concede games. Despite having the top seed in the Western Conference wrapped up for quite some time now, they continue to compete and dominate opponents in the process. Perhaps that will be the case tonight.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 7 PM CT
Location: Paycom Center (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
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: Luguentz Dort
- SF: Jalen Williams
- PF: Chet Holmgren
- C: Isaiah Hartenstein
Bulls
- PG: Josh Giddey
- SG: Coby White
- SF: Dalen Terry
- PF: Matas Buzelis
- C: Nikola Vucevic
Injury Report
Thunder
- Ousmane Dieng (strained left calf) is OUT.
- Alex Ducas (strained right quad) is OUT.
- Isaiah Hartenstein (left hip soreness) is QUESTIONABLE.
- Chet Holmgren (left hip injury management) is QUESTIONABLE.
- Ajay Mitchell (right great toe surgery) is OUT.
- Nikola Topic (left knee surgery) is OUT.
- Aaron Wiggins (left Achilles tendinitis) is OUT.
- Jaylin Williams (left hip tightness) is QUESTIONABLE.
Bulls
- Lonzo Ball (sprained right wrist) is DOUBTFUL.
- Ayo Dosunmu (left shoulder surgery) is OUT.
- Josh Giddey (right hip soreness injury management) is QUESTIONABLE.
- Kevin Huerter (sprained right thumb injury management) is OUT.
- Tre Jains (sprained left midfoot) is OUT.
- E.J. Liddell (illness) is OUT.
- Emmanuel Miller (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Jahmir Young (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).
- So far this season, the Thunder is 1-0 against the Bulls (0-0 at home, 1-0 on the road).
- The Thunder has won the last 5 matchups with the Bulls.