Bulls get Thunder-struck in Oklahoma
By Homer D. Sayson
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 02 Apr 2012
IT was hyped as an NBA Finals preview featuring two of the best teams in the league all season long --- Chicago versus Oklahoma, the beast in the East against the fastest guns in the West.
Like most hypes, however, this one had more pop than corn as the powerhouse Thunder gave the visiting Bulls an electrifying 92-78 beatdown Sunday afternoon at the Cheasapeake Energy Arena in downtown Oklahoma City.
The Thunder came in as the highest scoring team in the NBA (108.7 points per game) and second best in field goal percentage (52.7 percent). The Bulls, on the other hand, invaded Oklahoma as an elite defensive team with the best road record in the NBA (21-6) and the best record overall at 42-11.
But the Bulls' defensive toughness was no match against the offensive might of the Thunder, who raced to an 18-10 start before settling to a 27-20 lead after one quarter of action.
Despite making just 16 of 45 field goals, the Bulls trailed only by 10 at the halftime break, 49-39. But a 12-2 run to open the third quarter made the gap wider at 61-41. And then the wheels fell of completely when the Thunder pressed on the gas harder and entered the fourth quarter with an insormountable 80-51 bubble.
"We were awful offensively and defensively. It's disappointing. They really kicked our ass in every aspect," said Bulls forward Joakim Noah, who had a subpar five-rebound, six-point effort.
OKLAHOMA shot 36-of-74 field goals (48.6 percent) and 4-of-9 treys (44.4 percent) while Chicago struggled with 30-of-91 from the field (33 percent) and 8-of-24 from 3-point range (33.3 percent). As expected, the hard-charging Bulls won the rebounding battle, 48-40, but the Thunder dominated the paint 30-20 and sank more free throws 16-10.
Derrick Rose, who missed his 9th consecutive start, and Rip Hamilton didn't suit up for the Bulls. And their absence gave their team limited options on an offense that went arid for most of the contest.
Thunder coach Scott Brooks was extremely pleased with his team's sixth straight win, saying "we played our best defense of the year. We challenged every pass, challenged every look and every shot. We came out with good energy and toughness and I thought it was important that we do that in the game."
And that pesky, menacing defense clearly perturbed most of the the Bulls as Noah missed 7 of 8 shots, Luol Deng went just 4-of-13 from the field while C.J. Watson had an anemic four points on 2-of-7 shooting. John Lucas III led the Bulls in scoring but he clanked 13 of 20 shots to get 19 points.
Oklahoma's All-Star tandem of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook proved too much for the Bulls to handle. The awesome twosome combined for 53 points, 13 rebounds and 9 assists. They made 21-of-34 shots, 3-of-4 threes and 8-of-8 free throws.
As if this fight was not one-sided enough without Rose, Oklahoma's Durant and Westbrook got plenty of help as James Harden came off the bench with 11 markers and Serge Ibaka added 9 points while shoring up the defense with five blocked shots.
Despite dropping to 42-12, the Bulls kept the NBA's best record overall. But the second-place Thunder, who improved to 40-12, hold the tie-breaker, which means homecourt advantage in the NBA Finals if both teams get there with the same regular-season record. (Homer D. Sayson)
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