The Chicago Bulls came into the game on a three game winning streak, but that came to an end when the Oklahoma City Thunder beat them 109-94. Jimmy Butler was sent home after being taken out of the game in the 3rd quarter. Butler was ill coming into the game and there was a chance he wouldn’t play at all. This was the first of a back to back for the Bulls and it looks as though Butler won’t play Tuesday night and Dwayne Wade will also miss that game. Wade normally skips one game in a back to back set to rest.
Believe it or not the Bulls only lead of the game came when Taj Gibson hit a jump shot for the first points of the game and the Bulls lead 2-0. Chicago did manage to come back and tie the game at 10 all. Oklahoma City finished the quarter on a 16-10 run to take a 26-20 after one quarter.
The 2nd quarter saw Oklahoma City build a 17 point lead 39-22. The Bulls did score the next eight points as part of an 18-4 run that cut the Thunder’s lead to three points. The Bulls couldn’t keep the run going though as they scored just six points the remainder of the quarter as Oklahoma City built it’s lead to 15 points going into halftime ahead 61-46.
The Bulls mad a 11-6 run to cut the Thunder’s lead to 10 points (67-57) with 6:50 left in the quarter, but that was the closet Chicago could get. The rest of the quarter belonged to Oklahoma City. The Thunder went on a 27 to 7 run to build there biggest lead of the game (25 points) 89-64. The Bulls did manage to score the final three points of the quarter to make the score 89-67 at the end of three quarters.
With the result of the game appearing to be taken care of Oklahoma City was able to get there starters some rest. Chicago did outscored Oklahoma City 27 to 20 in the final quarter, but it wasn’t close to enough for a comeback win. By knocking seven points of the Oklahoma City lead just meant the Bulls lost by 15 points 109-94.
Steven Adams was the Thunder’s leading scorer with 22 points. Russell Westbrook had a double-double with 21 points and a game high 14 assists. Westbrook missed a triple-double by 1 rebound. Enes Kanter had 20 points and his 11 rebounds tied for the game high coming off the Oklahoma City bench. Victor Oladipo also tallied 13 points for the Thunder.
Chicago was led by Dwayne Wade with 22 points. Michael Carter-Williams had 15 points while Jerian Grant and Cristiano Felicio came off the Bulls bench to score 11 points. Felicio also grabbed 11 rebounds to tie for the game high. Jimmy Butler did hand out 7 assists to lead the team before exiting the game.
The win improves Oklahoma City’s record to 23-16. The Thunder will get a day off before they return home to host the 24-16 Memphis Grizzlies Wednesday night. The loss drops Chicago back to .500 at 19-19. This was the first of back to back games for the Bulls as they must play tonight in Washington against the 18-18 Wizards.
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