NBA Early Preview – Chicago Bulls at Oklahoma City Thunder

Chicago Bulls at Oklahoma City Thunder (-6.5, 203 o/u)

Ten days after squaring off for the first time this season, the Chicago Bulls (40-27, 20-13 away) and the Oklahoma City Thunder (36-29, 22-9 home) will meet for the second and final time tomorrow at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma (1:00 p.m. Eastern).

Despite Russell Westbrook’s 43-point outburst, the Bulls came out on top in the first game, 108-105.  OKC had a chance for the tie at the buzzer, but Westbrook turned the ball over by stepping out of bounds.

“[I was j]ust trying to get a good shot. I should have passed to Serge [Ibaka],” Westbrook said after the loss. “That was a bad decision on my part. He was open, and I should have hit him.”

Westbrook has stayed scorching hot with reigning MVP Kevin Durant on the sideline. Last week, the point guard put up a triple-double against the Raptors in a 108-104 win (30 points, 17 assists, 11 rebounds) and then had 24 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists in a 120-108 loss to the Clippers.

Westbrook also committed ten turnovers against Los Angeles, though, which proved costly.

“He’s not happy that he scored a bunch of points and got a bunch of rebounds and assists, and we lost the game,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. “Russell is about winning and about winning only.”

Westbrook and the Thunder bounced back on Friday with a 113-99 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Westbrook had another triple-double (his eighth of the year) in the win, scoring 29 points and adding 12 assists and ten boards.

The win moved the Thunder just half a game back of New Orleans for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference. Unfortunately for OKC, the team may be without Ibaka for tomorrow’s game. He missed Friday’s tilt with a knee injury and remains questionable for Sunday.

The Thunder will get no sympathy from Chicago for their injury woes, though, as the Bulls are hurting even worse. Chicago which will be without all of Jimmy Butler, Derrick Rose, and Taj Gibson tomorrow. The Bulls shortened roster led to a three-game losing streak last week and has allowed the Cavaliers to leapfrog them for top spot in the Central Division.

They got back in the win column against the dreadful 76ers on Wednesday, but then fell 101-91 in Charlotte on Friday, despite taking a 16-point lead into the second quarter.

Chicago only managed to score ten points in third, and was out-rebounded 55-36 in the game.

“The first quarter was as well as we played all year, but then the last three quarters the second shot got us,” Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau told the AP after the game. “So much of rebounding is will and determination and [the Hornets] are fighting for a playoff spot.”

The Bulls will still have center Pau Gasol (18.4 PPG, 12.1 RPG) on the floor, along with the 2014 NBA Defensive Player of the Year, Joakim Noah, when they meet OKC tomorrow. But without Rose and Butler, they will need guard Aaron Brooks, who scored 31 in the win over Philly and 24 in the loss to Charlotte, to continue to increase his production.

Trends: OKC has won seven of the last ten against Chicago, but the Bulls have covered the spread in two of the last three.  Also, seven of the last ten meetings have stayed under the total.

(Photo credit: Keith Allison (flickr) [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode]. Photo has been cropped.)