Control Lauri Markkanen:
In just his second game back Lauri Markkanen delivered a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds versus the Indiana Pacers. Indy like OKC are one of the NBA best defensive squads so Billy Donovan will need to have Markkanen listed atop his chalk board.
Much like the Thunder took care of Blake Griffin in Detroit they’ll need to do the same with Markkanen who is an under rated passing big and who’ll freely let fly from deep. Despite the solid performance by the Bulls power forward versus the Pacers he’s still shaking off rust and looking to find some consistency in his shot. Markkanen returned from an elbow injury, so his shot mechanics and timing were affected.
Continue the West dominance over the Bulls:
Chicago have won just five games this season with four coming against their own conference (Hornets, Hawks, Knicks in double overtime and Cavaliers). The lone victory Chicago has over the west was against the one confirmed lottery seed — the Phoenix Suns.
Entering the game the Bulls rank dead last in offense and 20th defensively. Conversely the Thunder rank 17th offensively and boast the league’s top ranked defense.
With wins against the lower tier teams the Thunder have been utilizing these games to tweak the system on both sides of the ball. That said, clearly the focus and identity of the Thunder is defense.
The Bull allow teams to score an average of 113 points per game, so this might be a night OKC can also benefit offensively (as long as they don’t lose focus on defense).
The key will be not letting Chicago get off to a hot start as the worst thing the Thunder could do is let these youngsters see the ball fall through the net and inspire them to think they could steal one.
Reserve Time:
A scan of the stats offers ample areas the Thunder can take advantage of the Bulls. There simply aren’t areas Chicago ranks among the leaders. Albeit, without a majority of their core available due to injuries this might be misleading.
That said, only Markkanen is back in the mix, so there are benefits to the starters jumping on the Bulls from the tip. At the top of the list would be getting the OKC bench mob more time on the hardwood to develop and build upon their chemistry.
In recent outings we’re finally starting to witness the timing and geling occurring between Dennis Schroder, Nerlens Noel, Patrick Patterson and the copious wing options.
Too many games require the starters to play the majority of minutes, so this game could afford the bench quality minutes and some rest for Thunder starters.