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.
OKC being back at home is a nice change of pace after 5 straight road games on the East Coast, but this spread is huge, even for playing the Bulls. While I do think the Thunder wins easily, I would not be in the least surprised if Mark Daigneault goes deep into his bench early, experimenting with different lineups now that the whole team is healthy. As a result, I can see Chicago covering the spread, maybe late, but covering nonetheless.
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This line is several points closer than it would be under normal circumstances, but with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Isaiah Hartenstein sitting out on the first night of a back-to-back, it makes sense. Even without those guys out—and Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell still awaiting return—I’m a big fan of the Thunder covering this one. Chicago finally ended their 11-game losing streak on Sunday, but the Bulls have been blown out plenty in the last month, and I expect that to happen again tonight.
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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.
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This is a tough spread to pick due to a lot of questions surrounding the injury report. Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Jaylin Williams are all questionable with various hip issues, but I would expect at least 2 of the 3 to be available tonight. Even if they can’t go, though, OKC’s small ball looked pretty dang good in the second half against the Pacers on Saturday. I’m thinking that the Thunder will open this game up in the third quarter before Chicago manages to fight back late to just barely cover the spread.
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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.
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The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Dallas Mavericks kicked off the Western Conference Semifinals on Tuesday for Game 1, and after 12 minutes of play, the teams were deadlocked at 23 points apiece. The game started to turn in the Thunder’s favor in the second quarter as they pushed a lead to double digits. The Mavericks made a run to cut it to one midway through the third period, but OKC caught fire from downtown—knocking down 11-of-19 threes in the second half—to push the lead to as much as 25 before eventually pulling out the 117-95 victory.
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Despite being a heavy favorite, the Oklahoma City Thunder just barely gutted out a tough 94-92 win in Game 1 against the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday. The energy was electric at the Paycom Center, and perhaps the nervousness of the playoffs affected the youth of the Thunder, but when it all came down to it, the right guys made the right plays, including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scoring the go-ahead basket with 32.1 seconds to go. Now OKC needs to maintain home court advantage with another win in Game 2.
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