The Chicago Bulls lost their season opener Wednesday night to the Oklahoma City Thunder 106-95. The Bulls and Thunder were both the number 8th seed in their conferences in last year’s playoffs. Both teams lost in their opening series.
Throughout the entire game, the lead was only by single digits until the end of the game in Oklahoma City. The Bulls trailed for most of the game up to the end of the 3rd quarter when they tied the game at 82. There were 19 lead changes in the entire game and 11 tie games.
The Bulls had trouble scoring the basketball in the final four minutes of play. This is when the Thunder began their run to stretch their lead to double digits with steals and dunks by Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant. The Bulls continued to turn the ball over late in the game which led to easy baskets for the Thunder. The Thunder pulled away and received their first win of the season and handed the Bulls their first loss.
Durant and Westbrook had a very impressive night Wednesday. Durant led all scores with 30 points, and Westbrook was right behind him with 28 points. Durant led the NBA in scoring last season. Durant and Westbrook are a very dangerous combo in the NBA and continue to prove themselves. Thabo Sefolosha, former Bulls player, had four key blocks and two steals for the Thunder.
Even though the Bulls lost, they did show that they are a different team than last years. Derrick Rose showed that he is more confident in his jump shot than he was last year. He continued to shoot the ball from any place on the court. Last year he passed up many open shot attempts, but he looks like he is more confident to shoot the basketball. Rose shot the ball 31 times scoring 28 points. Joakim Noah also had a strong performance with 18 points and 19 rebounds. Taj Gibson had 16 points and 11 rebounds as well. The Bulls seemed to be miss Carlos Boozer late in the game when they had trouble scoring the basketball.
The Bulls defeated the Detroit Pistons Saturday October 30th 101-91. The Bulls trailed by 21 points at one point of the game. Rose led the way with 39 points. The Bulls face off against the Portland Trailblazers tonight at the United Center in Chicago.
