The Chicago Bulls will be out to even their regular seasons series with the Oklahoma City Thunder when they meet on Friday, Jan. 13, at the United Center.
The Bulls are coming off a loss to the Washington Wizards, 97-100, while the Thunder upended the favored Philadelphia 76ers in their last assignment, 133-114.
In the first meeting between these two NBA clubs in November, the Thunder won 123-119.
Against the Wizards, Chicago lost in the final 5.7 seconds after Kyle Kuzma drilled in a three-pointer for the Wizards.
This was after Zach LaVine tied the count at 97-all. With about 2.3 seconds left, the Bulls star opted to drive in and hoped he would get a three-point play. Unfortunately, this never happened.
“They didn’t call it,” LaVine said. “That’s how it is. I could have pulled up deep for 3, (but)) once I walked into it and he tried to grab me, I tried to pull up.”
Kuzma paced Chicago with a team-high 38 points and five rebounds. Nikola Vucevic helped with a double-double performance of 15 points and 10 rebounds.
DeMar DeRozan did not suit up for the Bulls against the Thunder due to a right quadricep strain he suffered in their previous assignment to the Boston Celtics. He remains listed as day-to-day against OKC.
The Thunder are riding high on a big 133-114 win over the mighty Sixers, thanks to the efforts of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey.
Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 37 points, eight rebounds and six assists while Giddey added 20 markers and eight dimes.
“I think it shows we belong,” Giddey said. “We’ve shown we belong with some of the best teams in the league.”
The Bulls are installed as -5 spread favorites to prevail over the Thunder who are at +5. The Moneyline is -195 for Chicago and +162 for Oklahoma City.
The Bulls host the Thunder on Friday at the United Center with the game starting at 8:00 p.m. E.T. It will be telecast via NBA League Pass with live streaming available via fuboTV.
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