Sometimes it just takes longer
Fifty-three minutes, in this case, since the Thunder and the Bulls were tied at 94 after forty-eight. But Oklahoma City absolutely dominated in overtime, holding Chicago to a mere four points and snagging a rare road win, 109-98.
All sorts of double figures for the Thunder tonight, including three double-doubles: Kevin Durant (28 points, 12 rebounds), Russell Westbrook (14 points, 12 rebounds) and Jeff Green (14 points, 12 rebounds). You might assume from this that OKC got a lot of boards, and they did: 59, versus 37 for the Bulls. Nick Collison got 9 boards and 21 points; Earl Watson, who started at the point with Westbrook moved over to the two, served up 11 assists. And there were second-chance points, the Thunder grabbing 22 offensive rebounds.
Not that the Bulls sat back and let them do all that. Four of five Chicago starters finished in double figures, with Ben Gordon and Dwight Gooden at 22 and 20 respectively; Gooden had 12 rebounds. Joakim Noah, off the bench, was good for 11 boards. And the Bulls outshot Oklahoma City, 43.5 to 40.8 percent. The game was close all through regulation, with no big leads either way, but once into overtime, Chicago was no longer a threat, and the sellout crowd began filing out into the snow.
The Thunder will be in New Jersey Monday, where the Nets will get to see Nenad Krstić again, albeit as part of the opposition. Curiously, the Nets have a better record on the road than they do at home, though one should never count on such things.
Dan B »
11 January 2009 · 6:20 pm
We’re 3-3 since for 2009, as measured from GMT to include the Dec 31 win over Golden State. Can the trend continue?
CGHill »
11 January 2009 · 6:24 pm
The Nets seem beatable; the Jazz, the Pistons and the Heat, who are due in over the next week, maybe not so much.
Jeff Brokaw »
12 January 2009 · 3:55 pm
I guess the Bulls have truly hit bottom now. :-)