- Chicago Bulls (29-43, 12th in the East) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (57-16, 1st in the West)
- When: Friday, 27 March 2026 at 7:00pm CST
- Where: Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, OK
- TV: NBATV / FDSN-OK
- Offensive Rating: CHI: 112.6 (24th) / OKC: 117.1 (8th)
- Defensive Rating: CHI: 117.1 (23rd) / OKC: 106.2 (1st)
- Net Rating: CHI: -4.5 (23rd) / OKC: 10.8 (1st)
- Current Streaks: CHI: 3-5 in their last 8 games / OKC: Lost their last game, winners of 12 of their last 13
- OKC Magic Number Count – 8, to clinch the #1 seed throughout the playoffs
The Tip-Off
Here lately, it has felt like the Thunder are playing every game on Friday the 13th and the San Antonio Spurs are Jason Voorhees. And no matter how fast the Thunder run, the Spurs are right there continually nipping at their heels. (Cha-cha-cha) Win 12 in a row…the Spurs go 11-1 in that same stretch. Look at the strength of schedule for their remaining games, and the 2 game lead the Thunder hold over the Spurs constantly feels like its only a step away. But is this a bad thing? Not necessarily. The Thunder weren’t really tested last season until the 2nd round of the playoffs, which may have played a part in their inexperience during certain situations in the playoffs. Having to be battle-tested in the regular season could show it’s worth in the playoffs this season. While the Thunder did eventually win the title, there are some players on the roster this season that didn’t necessarily play a big part in the rotation last year (namely Ajay Mitchell and Jared McCain). In addition, it also puts the onus on the Spurs to have to continue playing all the way through the end of the season, which limits their ability to rest their players.
This is the second and final meeting of the season between the Thunder and Bulls. OKC won the first meeting, 116-108, in a game that saw five Thunder players score at least 17 points. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was out for that game and the leading scorer for OKC was Jared McCain off the bench with 20 points.
Betting Info, presented by FanDuel
- Line: OKC -18.5
- O/U: 238.5
Injury Report
OKC
- Brooks Barnhizer – OUT (personal)
- Chet Holmgren – OUT (hip contusion)
- Thomas Sorber – OFS (knee/ACL)
CHI
- Zach Collins – OFS (toe)
- Rob Dillingham – Probable (knee)
- Noa Essengue – OFS (shoulder)
- Jaden Ivey – OFS (knee)
- Yuki Kawamura – Day to Day (quad)
- Isaac Okoro – Probable (knee)
- Nick Richards – Questionable (elbow)
- Anfernee Simons – OUT (wrist)
- Jalen Smith – OFS (calf)
- Guerschon Yabusele – Questionable (ankle)
Three Big Things
- Take Care of Business – The Thunder are at home after a long road trip and playing a team that has no business competing with them. In addition, they are the healthiest they’ve been all year. With the Spurs nipping at their heels, there should be no reason why the Thunder don’t do the necessary things to put this team away quickly and early in the game.
- Perimeter Defense – The Chicago Bulls score 37.7% of their points from the 3-point line. That’s 6th best in the league. They were just scorched by the #3 team in that statistical category in their last game against Boston. While the Thunder’s defensive philosophy has worked for the most part of the past couple of seasons, there are still nights where their inside-out principle works against them. It would behoove the Thunder to not let ball-handlers into the lane and to run out to the 3-point shooters for Chicago.
- Downhill Scoring – The Bulls rank 4th worst in the league in paint defense, allowing 53.4 points per game. With Zach Collins and Jalen Smith out for the season and Nick Richards questionable, it would behoove the Thunder to constantly attack the paint and run their offense through their paint touches tonight.