DeRozan, Vucevic Prove too Much for OKC as Thunder Lose 106-101

In a matchup of injury-riddled rosters the Oklahoma City Thunder fell to the Chicago Bulls, 106-101 Saturday in Chicago.

With Zach LaVine sidelined, the Bulls’ (36-21) remaining stars DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic created mismatches all night long to score a combined 69 points.

DeRozan is one of the NBA’s finest from the midrange and his pump-fake might just be the best — something the Thunder learned the hard way Saturday. On his way to 38 points he caught the likes of Aaron Wiggins and Darius Bazley on the move multiple times to give him a whopping 16 free throw attempts.

With Jeremiah Robinson-Earl injured and Derrick Favors resting following Friday’s game in Philadelphia, the Thunder were light on big bodies to throw at the former All-Star Vucevic — something OKC (17-39) found to be its biggest problem defensively throughout the game. The 7-footer exploited this time and time again, finishing with 31 points. But it was his 15-point third quarter that gave Chicago its first lead of the night late in the frame.

OKC wasn’t completely helpless on defense, however. The Thunder held the remaining Bulls to 37 points on 35% shooting from the field. The Thunder also came up with 10 blocks to keep it tight.

Bazley had a tale of two halves for OKC as he was far and away the Thunder’s best performer in the first half posting 11 points, six rebounds and four assists to go along with two steals and three blocks — two of which coming on DeRozan jump shots. The second half was not as kind to the third-year forward as he totaled just six points to finish 7-for-21 from the field.

Lu Dort led the way offensively for OKC as he finished with 31 points, including five crucial 3-points. Josh Giddey posted the second triple-double of his career with 11 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists as he garnered the lion’s share of ball-handling duties with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sidelined through injury.

The Thunder are in action next Monday in Madison Square Garden, taking on the New York Knicks at 6:30 p.m. CT.

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