Matching up against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Chicago Bulls (33-42) played like they were struck by lightning.
No, the electricity wasn’t pumping through their veins but rather shocking them in place. They were practically dead on arrival in this one, and the Thunder wasted no time taking full advantage. The Bulls started the night 0-6 from the field and went on to shoot 1-10 from downtown in the first quarter. They also coughed up EIGHT turnovers in the frame, meaning they had more mistakes than they did made field goals over the first 12 minutes.
With Oklahoma City up 16 points less than 2 minutes into the second quarter, Billy Donovan started grasping at straws. He opted for the double-big lineup with Jalen Smith and Zach Collins to try to light some sort of spark for this group on either end of the floor. Nothing changed. The best team in the NBA was rolling, and there was nothing Chicago could do about it.
OKC would go on to shoot 56.6 percent in the first half and drain 13 of their 23 attempts from downtown. Isaiah Joe drained five of those triples and led the way with 19 points off the bench. Even more notable, they had already forced the Bulls into 14 turnovers and had a ridiculous 22-4 advantage on points off those turnovers. Their 45 total points scored in the second quarter amassed the Bulls’ entire first-half point total, giving them a 74-40 lead going into halftime.
The only thing the Bulls really deserve credit for in this one is not walking out the Paycom Center backdoor early. This game was all but over with three quarters left to go, and the coaching staff knew it. With another game less than 24 hours away back in Chicago, we began to see several starters stay on the bench in the third quarter. Jevon Carter got up his fair share of shots, leading him to finish as the Bulls’ leading scorer on the night (17 points). Talen Horton-Tucker and Patrick Williams were right behind him (16 points). I think that says just about everything you need to know, right?
By the time the final buzzer (thankfully) sounded, the Thunder had an opponent season-high 145 points on the board. They knocked down 23 total threes and finished with 34 points off the Bulls’ turnovers. Complete and utter dominance.
Look, did I expect the Chicago Bulls to win this game? Of course not! OKC is a juggernaut, and the Bulls would have likely had to play their best game of the season to take them down. Still, this performance was … brutal. Especially when we add this loss to the one against the Mavericks, it serves as a potentially necessary reminder of just how far this organization has to go. Yes, it was a fun month of March, but there is only so much weight this front office can put into that this offseason.
Ps: The Bulls slipped back into the No. 10 seed with this loss and a Miami Heat win over the Wizards. Although, they have some very winnable games coming up this week AND the tiebreaker advantage over Miami, so I wouldn’t be shocked if they swap spots again soon.
Player Grades:
Matas Buzelis – B
Stats: 14 PTS, 7 REB, 4 BLK
To be honest, it’s pretty hard to hand out grades for this one. I guess Matas Buzelis deserves the highest mark for his defensive effort, as his four blocks were a career-high.
https://twitter.com/CHSN_Bulls/status/1906887031470391387
Patrick Williams – B
Stats: 16 PTS, 3 AST, 2 REB
He went 4-8 from downtown. I’ll take it, I guess.
Josh Giddey – B-
Stats: 15 PTS, 10 AST, 8 REB
As impressive as the stat line may be, we can all agree this was far from an impactful revenge game.
Nikola Vucevic – C-
Stats: 11 PTS, 8 REB, 2 AST
Billy Donovan ended the veteran’s night early and rightfully so (21 minutes).
Coby White – D+
Stats: 7 PTS, 1 AST, 1 REB
For the first time in a LONG time, Coby White was a complete non-factor. His streak of 20+ point games was also snapped at 15 contests. Bummer.
Box Score:
Check out the full box score here.
