Thunder at Bulls
The Oklahoma City Thunder aren't content to just make the playoffs in the Western Conference, they are looking for a strong seed, and they are looking to do damage. The Thunder will try to push their latest winning streak to four in a row when they visit the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday.
Oklahoma City came out of the All-Star break with an impressive performance in a 113-101 victory over Denver and was even better on Sunday, when it shot 57.5 percent from the floor in a 131-103 drubbing of the San Antonio Spurs. "We have a very unselfish team," Thunder coach Billy Donovan told reporters. "When they move the ball, share the ball, and the ball finds the open man generally, we are able to have a great offensive night. I thought tonight the ball found a bunch of different people, and that's why I think we played so well offensively because everyone was involved." The Bulls come into the meeting with some positive momentum as well after snapping an eight-game slide with a 126-117 triumph over Washington on Sunday. Chicago has been looking for scoring help for star guard Zach LaVine and found it of late from rookie guard Coby White, who became the first rookie in NBA history to put together back-to-back 30-point games off the bench and the first Chicago rookie since Michael Jordan to post at least 30 points in consecutive contests.
TIME: 8 p.m. ET. TV: FS Oklahoma, NBCS Chicago
ABOUT THE THUNDER (35-22): Oklahoma City sits in sixth place in the West but enters play on Monday 1 1/2 games behind the fourth-place Houston Rockets and 2 1/2 behind the third-place Clippers thanks to an offense that saw eight players reach double figures on Sunday. "You don't know where it's coming from," reserve point guard Dennis Schroder told reporters. "We've got so many people who can score. We're moving the ball, sacrificing for each other. We're playing unselfishly. That's what coach is telling us to do." All-Star point guard Chris Paul handed out 10 of the team's 28 assists on Sunday and just missed a triple-double with 12 points and nine rebounds.
ABOUT THE BULLS (20-38): White went for 33 points in a 112-104 loss to Phoenix on Saturday and matched that number the next night while going 11-of-18 from the floor in the win over the Wizards. "We need (White) to do things like that," LaVine told reporters. "I told him, 'let's do it again next game. Keep it going, don't put a cap on it.'" LaVine added 32 points on 11-of-20 shooting and knocked down six of the team's 18-pointers in his first 30-plus effort in three games since the All-Star break.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Thunder SG Shai Gilgeous-Alexander recorded his eighth double-double with 22 points and 13 rebounds on Sunday.
2. LaVine is up to 177 made 3-pointers on the season, breaking Ben Gordon's franchise record of 173.
3. Oklahoma City took the first meeting 109-106 at home on Dec. 16 behind 30 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists from Paul.