Bulls at Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder are looking to notch their sixth consecutive
home victory over Chicago when they host the Bulls on Christmas Day.
Chicago hasn't left Oklahoma City victorious since delivering a 96-86
victory on Jan. 27, 2010.
The Bulls limp into town on the heels of three straight losses, including a lethargic 105-102 home loss to the lowly Brooklyn Nets on Monday. "The only way we are going to win basketball games is if we come together as a team and stay together, through the good times and bad," shooting guard Jimmy Butler told reporters. "We've got that group of guys, we're talented enough. We just have to buy into it.” Oklahoma City has won three straight games and nine of its last 10 after rolling to an easy 120-85 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday. Thunder small forward Kevin Durant had 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting and has scored 20 or more points in 15 straight contests.
TV: 2:30 p.m. ET, ABC
ABOUT THE BULLS (15-11): Center Joakim Noah sprained his left shoulder in the loss to Brooklyn and will miss at least two weeks. "The shoulder popped out of joint for a brief second, so he's going to be sore and stiff," Chicago coach Fred Hoiberg told reporters. "So it's rehabbing for the next couple of weeks, and then re-evaluated from there." The 30-year-old Noah has struggled this season with a career-low 4.5 scoring average as the switch from Tom Thibodeau's system to Hoiberg's faster pace isn't a good for fit for his game.
ABOUT THE THUNDER (20-9): Durant's economical performance against the Lakers was impressive in the eyes of first-year coach Billy Donovan. "I thought Kevin could have taken a lot more shots," said Donovan, "but he was really insistent on doing a great job of finding people, setting people up and making the game easy." Point guard Russell Westbrook had 23 points, eight rebounds and eight assists against Los Angeles and is averaging 28 points over the past two games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. PG Derrick Rose scored 29 points as the Bulls recorded a 104-98 home win over the Thunder on Nov. 5.
2. Oklahoma City is just 6-7 against Eastern Conference foes compared to a 14-2 mark versus the West.
3. Rose is 6-of-21 shooting over the past two games and has scored in single digits in four of the past six games.