After missing 9 games with a strained abdominal injury, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander made his return to action last Friday night. After playing just two games, he’ll sit out on Tuesday night—along with Isaiah Hartenstein—as the Oklahoma City Thunder takes on the Bulls in Chicago in the first game of a back-to-back. SGA and IHart are sitting due to injury management, though, so there is no cause for concern. Instead, OKC is continuing to manage injuries and monitor the health of the squad down this final stretch of the NBA season.
Complete health is the goal ahead of any game, but if key players have to miss, you want it to be on a night like tonight. The Bulls are 25-36 on the season, which doesn’t seem all that bad until you consider that they have won just 2 games in their last 16 outings. Chicago is coming off a 120-97 home win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday, which was a great way to kick off March after a winless February that featured 11 losses.
After a hot start to the season, OKC has been a bit up and down for the last couple of months, but when you look at the landscape of the NBA, you can see they have weathered the perfect storm of excessive injuries and a terribly difficult schedule. At 47-15, the Thunder has officially clinched a postseason spot of some sort—the first in the league to do so—and they remain 3 games ahead of San Antonio.
OKC is more than capable of winning tonight, likely by a hefty margin. With just 20 games remaining, guys must get healthy, get on the floor, and find some rhythm headed into the postseason. But until everyone is available, the Thunder’s depth is getting valuable experience ahead of the playoffs, and this game is just another opportunity to get better.
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: Cason Wallace
- SG: Isaiah Joe
- SF: Luguentz Dort
- PF: Chet Holmgren
- C: Jaylin Williams
Bulls
- PG: Josh Giddey
- SG: Tre Jones
- SF: Isaac Okoro
- PF: Matas Buzelis
- C: Guerschon Yabusele
Injury Report
Thunder
- Branden Carlson (strained lower back) is OUT.
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (strained abdominal injury management) is OUT.
- Isaiah Hartenstein (right soleus injury management) is OUT.
- Ajay Mitchell (strained abdominal; sprained left ankle) is OUT.
- Thomas Sorber (right ACL surgical recovery) is OUT.
- Nikola Topic (G League — on assignment) is OUT.
- Jalen Williams (strained right hamstring) is OUT.
Bulls
- Zach Collins (right 1st toe surgery) is OUT.
- Noa Essengue (left shoulder surgery) is OUT.
- Jaden Ivey (left patellofemoral pain syndrome) is OUT.
- Anfernee Simons (fractured left ulnar styloid) is OUT.
- Jalen Smith (strained right calf) is OUT.
- Patrick Williams (strained right quadricep) is OUT.
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 20-11 against the Bulls (12-5 at home, 8-6 away).
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder has won the season series against the Bulls 8 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 the last 6 matchups with the Bulls.