The Oklahoma City Thunder saw their 12-game winning streak come to an end on Wednesday as they dropped a 119-109 decision to the Boston Celtics. That meeting was the final game of a 5-game East Coast road trip, and despite the loss, OKC remains in control of the top spot in the Western Conference, two games ahead of the San Antonio Spurs.
Tonight, the Thunder is back in OKC as they host the Chicago Bulls. The roster is mostly healthy, but Chet Holmgren was just announced as sitting due to a hip contusion. The Bulls aren’t exactly a difficult opponent, so the Thunder is likely taking advantage and offering Holmgren some rest to heal up and be good to go for a much tougher schedule coming up.
The Bulls, who have dealt with ongoing injuries all season, enter this matchup with a 29-43 record. A loss tonight will eliminate them from postseason contention, but based on their winless February, their fate has been sealed for quite some time.
Right now, the Bulls are led by former Thunder player Josh Giddey, who is averaging 17.6 points, 9.2 assists, and 8.3 rebounds per game. Second-year player Matas Buzelis is also having a solid season, averaging 16.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game.
The Thunder’s key focus is maintaining the top spot in the West so that they can secure homecourt advantage through the playoffs. The secondary storyline, though, has been the ramped-up talks of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander going back-to-back as the NBA’s Most Valuable Player. For a good chunk of the season, he has remained at the top of the list, and he is still a heavy favorite to win, but NBA.com’s most recent rankings have propelled Victory Wembanyana to the top. The debate will be sure to fuel sports talk for the next few weeks as the regular season winds up, but anybody who knows ball knows who the real MVP is.
Tonight’s game tips off at 7 PM, and the game will be televised on Fanduel Sports Network. After tonight, the Thunder will play a back-to-back on Sunday and Monday, hosting the New York Knicks Sunday evening before a late-night matchup on Monday with the Detroit Pistons. OKC’s difficult schedule to end the season puts their top rank in the standings at risk, but the high level of competition is sure to prepare them even more so ahead of a postseason in which the Thunder looks to repeat as NBA Champions.
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: Cason Wallace
- SF: Luguentz Dort
- PF: Jalen Williams
- C: Isaiah Hartenstein
Bulls
- PG: Josh Giddey
- SG: Tre Jones
- SF: Isaac Okoro
- PF: Matas Buzelis
- C: Nick Richards
Injury Report
Thunder
- Brooks Barnhizer (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Chet Holmgren (right hip contusion) is OUT.
- Thomas Sorber (right ACL surgical recovery) is OUT.
- Nikola Topic (G League — on assignment) is OUT.
Bulls
- Zach Collins (sprained right 1st toe) is OUT.
- Rob Dillingham (bilateral patella tendonitis) is PROBABLE.
- Noa Essengue (left shoulder surgery) is OUT.
- Jaden Ivey (left patellofemoral pain syndrome) is OUT.
- Yuki Kawamura (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Mac McClung (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Isaac Okoro (right patellofemoral pain syndrome) is PROBABLE.
- Nick Richards (sprained right elbow) is QUESTIONABLE.
- Anfernee Simons (fractured left ulnar styloid) is OUT.
- Jalen Smith (strained right calf) is OUT.
- Guerschon Yabusele (sprained left ankle) is QUESTIONABLE.
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 21-11 against the Bulls (12-5 at home, 9-6 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).
- OKC is 1-0 against Chicago so far this season (0-0 at home, 1-0 on the road).
- The Thunder has won the last 7 meetings with the Bulls.