After an enthralling win in Philadelphia, The Oklahoma City Thunder marched into the Windy City to earn their second straight road win, 124-110, fending off a scrappy Chicago Bulls squad led by Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic.
The victory came on the back of the Thunder’s energetic and hyper-active defense which accounted for 12 steals and six blocks and forced 16 turnovers. Oklahoma City also held Chicago to just 31.2% on their 38 attempts from beyond the 3-point line.
The Thunder put up another decently efficient offensive night, hitting 51.1% of their 92 shots from the field, a third of their 33 3-point attempts, and converting 19-of-22 free throw attempts. They turned the ball over just 10 times.
Here are your top performers from Friday night’s action.
Josh Giddey
The 6-foot-8 point guard had maybe his best performance of the season in this one, scoring and matching a season-high 25 points on 11-of-18 shooting. He even out-scored his running mate, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – a rare feat for the sophomore guard. His 10 points in the third quarter also accounted for more than half of the Thunder’s offense.
He was just four assists shy of a triple double after snagging 10 rebounds and finding six assists. Giddey turned the ball over just three times. He also had two blocks.
But the numbers don’t do justice to some of the things Giddey was doing last night. He was actively hunting rebounds and crashing the glass, locked in on defense, and was even hitting Dirk Nowitzki-esque turnaround jumpers.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Even though he wasn’t even the second leading scorer for the Thunder, the Thunder’s star guard set the tone early with his activity on both sides of the ball with his seven points, two steals, and one block in the first quarter.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting, including hitting seven of his team-high eight free throw attempts, snagged five rebounds, and dished out six assists while just turning it over twice.
Defensively, he recorded a team-high four steals and produced two blocks.
Jalen Williams
The rookie guard out of Santa Clara played beautifully off of the gravity of Giddey of Gilgeous-Alexander, scoring 22 points on an absurdly efficient 10-of-12 shooting, and drilled a huge 3-pointer in the fourth quarter to help the Thunder capture another win. His eight rebounds also helped the Thunder out-rebound the Bulls, 46-42.
Williams’ defense was instrumental as well, helping to lock down the paint and secure the perimeter. He finished with two steals. Williams also was able to find three assists while never turning it over.
Darius Bazley
The fourth-year forward had a huge game for himself after failing to see the floor much in the past couple of weeks for the Thunder.
Head Coach Mark Daigneault inserted him into the lineup to give the team some mobility at the center position to help lock down the smaller, quicker Chicago guards. It turned out to be the right move as Bazley smothered pick-and-roll actions and entry passes, leading to three blocks and a steal and finishing with a plus-minus of 18 on the night.
Bazley also found success on the offensive end as well, scoring 14 points, including one 3-pointer, and even knocked down five of his seven attempts from the line. He also found one assist and didn’t record a single turnover – another rare feat.
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