Game Recap: Thunder crush Bulls

Alonzo Adams - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - 1 day ago

OKLAHOMA CITY—To be the best, you have to beat the best, and the Chicago Bulls (33-42) had an opportunity to do just that. Facing off against the best in the West in the Oklahoma City Thunder (63-12), the Bulls rolled into Paycom Center as one of the hottest teams in the game as they looked to close in on another play-in tournament berth.

You heard that right, a team nearly 10 games under .500 is not only closing in on a Play-In berth but with a six-game lead and only eight games to go for that final spot, it would take a catastrophic collapse for them not to make it. Oddly enough, they are closer to the No. 7 seed than missing the playoffs altogether, and with five winnable games remaining to finish off the season, the Bulls are in a position to make a late-season push to make things interesting.

However, Oklahoma City is a different animal, as their 34-5 home record would tell you, and they are also the best defensive team in the league. All that proved to be not only a recipe for disaster, but it led to one of the season's worst performances for Chicago as the Thunder took an early 9-2 lead and never looked back, defeating the Bulls 145-117. This was one of those games that was over nearly as quickly as it began, as the Bulls couldn't do much of anything against the OKC defense, putting up just 40 first-half points while allowing 74.

Things only got worse from there as the Thunder continued to stretch out their lead until the fourth when the Bulls not only outscored the Thunder by 12 but put up 43 points in the final 12 minutes, although most of those points came against reserve-type players. Anytime you lose a game like this, there aren't too many positives to take away, although this was a game where the Bulls may have been willing to pack it up earlier than normal, as they have an even bigger game tomorrow night.

Despite the struggles across the board, there were some continued positive results. Josh Giddey was the lone starter to have a good night, picking up 15 points and 10 assists. Matas Buzelis did add 14 points, with Nikola Vucevic chipping in with 11, but this was one of those nights when the Bulls bench was going to see plenty of minutes, and they made the most of those minutes.

One guy in particular who benefitted from the blowout loss was Jevon Carter, who saw the court for what seemed like the first time in a year. Known as a very good three-point shooter, Carter came off the bench with five of the Bulls' 16 made triples to finish with a team-high 17 points. Talen Horton-Tucker also made his first appearance in quite some time and added 16 points off the bench, as those two provided most of the Bulls' offense in the fourth.

You also had a strong effort from Patrick Williams who knocked down four more triples as the Bulls bench was responsible for 11 of the the 16 made three's. Williams would finish the game with 16 points, which is by far his best overall game since returning from his injury. Chicago also picked up 10 points from Jalen Smith.

As has been the case all season, Oklahoma City will go as far as their potential MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, takes them. Despite playing in just 27 minutes, SGA made them 27 very efficient minutes as he led all starters with 27 points and dished out 12 assists. Considering what he has done this season, that is considered a down game, which shows how well he has played this year.

However, it was the performance of Isaiah Joe off the bench that stole the show, as he led all scorers with 31 points in 24 minutes. That included an 11-point first quarter for Joe, who nearly outscored the entire Bulls roster in the opening 12 minutes as he knocked down eight triples in the win. These were just two of the seven double-digit scorers for the Thunder, as balanced offensive production wasn't an issue.

Four of those scorers came from the starting five, with Jalen Williams adding 23 points to give the Thunder three players with at least 20 points, while Isaiah Hartenstein 14 points and Luguentz Dort (11 points) capped off the strong showings from the Thunder starting five. OKC also saw Carson Wallace and Kenrich Williams come away with 10 points off the bench as they embarrassed the Bulls on Monday.

With the loss, Chicago is guaranteed to finish with a losing record for the second straight season as their unclear direction continues. All is not lost, however, as the Bulls still hold a five-game lead over the Toronto Raptors for the final play-in spot with seven games to go. They also play Toronto on Tuesday, where a win could ultimately clinch a playoff spot for the Bulls in front of the home crowd.