Both the Chicago Bulls and Oklahoma City Thunder are struggling with inconsistencies udring this recent stretch of the season. The Bulls are attempting to win three straight games after dropping their last two of three games at home. The Thunder are coming off a lopsided home loss and are in need of a bounce back road win after putting up one of their worst offensive performances of the year. Now the two meet up on Monday looking to get back on track as the season comes to a close.
Joakim Noah has the Chicago Bulls fighting for third place in the Eastern Conference. The star has nearly recorded a triple double in the last set of back-to-back wins for the Bulls, most recently putting up 23 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists against the Sacramento Kings. It is that kind of offensive production that has Chicago a half-game out of the third place spot in the East.
The Thunder might be second best team in the Western Conference, but they have lost four of their last six road games and are coming off a 109-86 blowout loss by the Dallas Mavericks. The Thunder had one of their worst shooting performances of the season as the team shot just 36.7 percent in the loss. The Thunder were without Russell Westbrook, Thabo Sefolosha and Kendrick Perkins which certainly did not help in the poor performance.
Westbrook will sit back-to-back games for the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery on his knee. The point guard is averaging 27.3 points in his last four games. In his last meeting against the Bulls, he put up 20 points and 10 assists in the win. Durant also has solid history against the Bulls. The guard has scored 25 points or more in his last three of four games against Chicago. Noah put up 23 points and 12 rebounds in that game.
As a team, Chicago has not played well against the Thunder. The team has shot a combined 35.2 percent in their last four games while Thunder have shot 51.2 percent in those games.
