Shorthanded Thunder conquer Chicago. Unsung heroes ignite offense and dominate turnovers, proving team depth fuels their scorching streak.
Oklahoma City stayed hot in Chicago on the front end of a back-to-back before heading to New York to take on the Knicks tomorrow, and the Thunder did it shorthanded. Given it was the first of two games in as many nights, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Isaiah Hartenstein both sat for injury management, which usually changes the feel of everything Oklahoma City wants to do on both ends. No Shai to steady the offense late. No Hartenstein to clean up possessions, screen, and anchor those minutes where OKC typically wins the margins.
It didn’t matter.
Final score was 115-108, and the Thunder controlled this game for nearly 42 minutes. It wasn’t one of those wire-to-wire wins where not everything looks pretty, but it was a professional win. Oklahoma City played with pace, played with pressure, and consistently got to the spots it wanted, even while missing two major rotation pieces.
Jared McCain led the way with 20 points, giving OKC the kind of timely scoring burst that keeps the offense afloat when the primary engine is off. Isaiah Joe poured in 19, and the way he got them mattered too. Most of his damage came early, with 15 of those points in the first two quarters, setting a tone and stretching Chicago’s defense before the game tightened up.
Cason Wallace and Jaylin Williams added 17 apiece, doing a little bit of everything, while Chet Holmgren posted a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds and made his presence felt on the glass.
Neither team shot it particularly well from three, and OKC was especially rough, going 10-for-42, good for under 24% from beyond the arc. On a night where that could have been the story, the Thunder still found separation because the effort areas were lopsided.
Oklahoma City generated 25 points off 19 Bulls turnovers, punished Chicago in transition with a 20-6 edge in fast break points, and generally won the possession battle with activity.
Top-to-bottom, this was a strong team win that travels.
Now the attention turns to the Eastern Conference contending Knicks on Wednesday night in New York, the second game of the back-to-back and a totally different kind of test.