The Oklahoma City Thunder (19-23, 6-14 Away) will try to slow down one of the NBA’s top shooting teams when they travel to face the Chicago Bulls (19-23, 11-9 Home) on Friday.
Oklahoma City is playing the second of a back-to-back after dismantling the Philadelphia 76ers 133-114 at Wells Fargo Center yesterday. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 37 points, eight rebounds, and six assists. The Thunder are 13th in the Western Conference.
Chicago lost a close one on Wednesday at Capital One Arena, falling to the Washington Wizards 100-97. Zach LaVine had 38 points in the loss to lead the team. The Bulls are 10th in the Eastern Conference.
This marks the final meeting of the season between the teams. Oklahoma City will be looking for a season sweep against Chicago after triumphing in the only previous meeting 123-119 in overtime at Paycom Center in November 2022.
Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 30 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. DeMar DeRozan had 30 points and six assists in defeat. Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 31.0 points per game, fourth-highest in the league, to lead the Thunder in scoring this season.
Meanwhile, Josh Giddey is contributing 7.9 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game. DeRozan and LaVine have been the primary providers of the Bulls’ offense, averaging 26.1 and 23.8 points per game, respectively. DeRozan also has doled out 4.9 assists per game. Nikola Vucevic has pulled down 10.9 rebounds per game.
The Bulls are shooting 48.8% from the field, ranking as one of the league’s most accurate field goal shooting teams (5th).The teams have split their last 10 matchups at United Center (5-5).
Meanwhile, the Thunder are 1-4 this season when playing two days in a row and 1-3 with a rest disadvantage. The Bulls are 2-2 with a rest advantage.
Oklahoma City is 5-5 in the last 10 games with an average margin of +5.4 (122.0-116.6). Chicago has also split the last 10 (5-5), scoring 117.4 points per game on average while holding opponents to 116.1 (+1.3 margin).
THUNDER HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Kenrich Williams: 18.2 | 13.8 | +4.4
Aaron Wiggins: 6.5 | 11.3 | -4.7
Rebounds per game:
Kenrich Williams: 6.0 | 4.6 | +1.4
Assists per game:
Josh Giddey: 7.2 | 5.6 | +1.6
BULLS HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points per game:
Zach LaVine: 31.0 | 23.8 | +7.2
Rebounds per game:
Nikola Vucevic: 14.0 | 10.9 | +3.1
SportsTips’ NBA Pick:
Chicago Bulls (-185)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
