Thunder Inside Game To "Big" For Bulls

By Randy Renner, Senior Writer

The Thunder knew what they needed to do going into last night’s game in Chicago, go inside and try to pound the Bulls down low.

“That was the key for us,” said center Enes Kanter. “We talked about it before the game that we had to attack the paint.”

And attack it they did, rolling to a 109-94 win.

The Thunder scored 60 paint points, Kanter had 20 on 9-for-11 shooting and Steven Adams had 22 on 11-for-14. Coming into this season Adams was yet to have a 20-point game in his career, now he’s done it five times.

Adams also combined with Kanter for five assists.

“The ball is going through them and they’re almost playing like point guards. They’re reading the defense, they’re making the extra pass, they’re seeing where the help is coming,” Thunder head coach Billy Donovan said.

“If they have good post position and it’s one-on-one, they’re making good moves and are making good, strong aggressive plays around the basket. When the help comes, they’re looking to kick it out and find people.”

Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook also dished a lot of assists, finishing with 14.

“My hand is always on the game. I just pick my spots and see what’s open and what’s not,” Westbrook told reporters. “They were collapsing so I was just trying to make some passes.”

He also had 21 points and nine rebounds. It’s the fourth time this season Westbrook has come a rebound or an assist short of a triple double.

“Russell was an incredible catalyst from the start with the way he passed and got everybody involved,” Donovan said.

The Thunder shot 56.6 percent overall and as efficient as the offense was, it was the defense that really impacted the game, holding the Bulls to just 40.5 percent shooting.

“The key was defense,” Kanter said. “I thought we did a great job, everybody was talking and communicating. It was good.”

The Bulls also had trouble because star small forward Jimmy Butler, who averaged almost 40 points in his last three games, was 0-for-6 scoring just one point. Butler wanted to play despite being sick earlier in the day. Clearly though he was still feeling the effects.

The Thunder flew home last night and will host the Memphis Grizzlies Wednesday night before playing their next six games on the road.