Giddey Goes 1-of-11 in Return to OKC as Thunder's 22-0 Run Sinks Bulls 131-113

Collin Sexton scored 22 points, Tre Jones added 21, and Isaac Okoro had 20, but the Chicago Bulls collapsed in the second half and lost 131-113 to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night at Paycom Center. Chicago led 67-62 at halftime and looked competitive through two quarters before OKC ripped off a 22-0 run spanning the third and fourth quarters that turned the game into a rout. The loss officially eliminated the Bulls from postseason and play-in contention. Chicago falls to 29-44. The Thunder improve to 58-16.

Josh Giddey, returning to Oklahoma City for the first time since being traded to the Bulls, had 11 assists but scored just 5 points on 1-of-11 shooting — 0-of-8 from three — with 5 turnovers. His season average is 17.6 points. Matas Buzelis added 15 points and a team-high 9 rebounds. Leonard Miller scored 15 off the bench. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City with 25 points — extending his NBA-record streak to 134 consecutive games with at least 20 — despite making just 8 of 24 shots and going 0-of-10 from three. He got to the free throw line for 9-of-12. Cason Wallace had 21 on 8-of-11 shooting (5-of-7 from three) and a game-best +21. Jalen Williams, playing his first home game since Jan. 13 after missing nearly two months with a bruised right hip, had 18 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds. Chet Holmgren (bruised right hip) did not play. Chicago was without Jalen Smith (right calf), Nick Richards (right elbow), and Anfernee Simons (wrist).

A 22-0 Run Turned a Competitive Game into a Blowout

For a half, the Bulls played the best team in the NBA to a standstill — and then some. The first quarter was a genuine back-and-forth affair. Okoro opened the scoring with a driving layup off a Giddey assist, and the two teams traded baskets for the entire period. Okoro hit two threes off Jones assists, Buzelis connected from deep off Jones, and Jones himself drilled a 25-foot running pullup three off a Yabusele assist. Sexton was electric off the bench, scoring 10 first-quarter points on 4-of-4 shooting including two threes, the second a 26-footer off a Jones assist with 47 seconds left that gave Chicago a 29-27 lead. Yabusele closed the quarter with a 26-foot three off another Jones find to put the Bulls up 32-29. SGA had 9 for Oklahoma City on 4-of-11 shooting, and Jalen Williams added 4, but it was Wallace — with 5 points and 2 steals — who kept the Thunder within striking distance.

The second quarter was even better for Chicago. Miller came off the bench and scored 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including a pullup three off Giddey, a layup off Giddey, and an alley-oop dunk off Giddey. Okoro added 9 points on 3-of-3 from the field plus 3-of-3 from the line, including a dunk off Sexton and a running layup with the and-one. Sexton hit another three off a Giddey assist. Giddey himself scored 3 on a floater and a free throw, but more importantly he had 4 assists in the period — three of them finding Miller for clean looks. Yabusele opened the quarter with a three off Jones to push the lead to 35-31. The Bulls outscored Oklahoma City 35-33 in the period and went into halftime up 67-62 — a 5-point lead built on 53-percent shooting and a bench that was outplaying the Thunder's reserves.

The third quarter was where it all fell apart. OKC outscored Chicago 33-21, and the margin that had felt comfortable evaporated in a matter of minutes. SGA was the catalyst — he scored 14 third-quarter points, all but two of them from the free throw line, going 3-of-10 from the field but drawing fouls relentlessly and converting 8-of-9 free throws. The Bulls, meanwhile, went cold. Giddey went 0-of-3 with 2 turnovers. Sexton shot 1-of-6. Okoro was 1-of-6. Patrick Williams went 0-of-3. A Jaylin Williams three put the Thunder ahead 89-88, and from there Oklahoma City closed the quarter on a 15-0 run. Chicago did not score for nearly seven minutes. The third quarter ended with OKC up 95-88 — a 7-point lead after the Bulls had been up 5 at the half.

The run did not stop there. Oklahoma City extended it to 22-0 early in the fourth, pushing the lead to 102-80. By the time Jones hit a driving floater to finally break the drought, the game was over. The Thunder's fourth quarter was a cruise — Wallace hit two more threes, Isaiah Joe added 9 points on 3-of-6 shooting, and Aaron Wiggins scored 9 of his own. Jones was the lone Bull who kept fighting, scoring 10 fourth-quarter points on 4-of-6 shooting, but no one else could join him. Giddey went 0-of-4 with a -15 in 8 fourth-quarter minutes. The final: Thunder 131, Bulls 113.

Giddey's Homecoming Was About Everything Except His Shot

Giddey's return to Paycom Center was always going to be a story, but the version that played out Friday was not the one anyone expected. His 11 assists were fine — he found Miller for three baskets, hit Sexton for two threes, and set up Okoro for a dunk in the second quarter. The playmaking was there. Everything else was not. He went 1-of-11 from the field, 0-of-8 from three, and committed 5 turnovers in 33 minutes. His lone made basket was a 6-foot driving floater in the second quarter. He was a -20 for the game — the worst mark on either team.

The contrast with SGA was unavoidable. Gilgeous-Alexander did not shoot well either — 8-of-24 is nobody's idea of a good night — but he still managed 25 points by getting to the line 12 times, and his 14-point third quarter was the stretch that swung the game. When the Thunder needed their best player to make something happen, SGA found a way even on an off night. Giddey, on the other side, could not. He went scoreless in both the third and fourth quarters on a combined 0-of-7 from the field with 2 turnovers. For a player averaging 17.6 points on the season, it was his worst shooting performance in weeks, and the setting made it sting more.

The three Bulls who did show up deserve credit. Jones had his most complete game of the road trip — 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting, 9 assists, and 7 rebounds. He was the primary engine in the first quarter, setting up Okoro, Buzelis, and Yabusele with a series of assists that built Chicago's early lead, and he was the only starter still scoring in the fourth. Sexton was Chicago's best player for most of the night — 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting, 5-of-7 from three, and an even 0 plus-minus in a game where almost every other Bull was deep in the negatives. His first-quarter burst of 10 points on 4-of-4 was the reason Chicago led early. Okoro added 20 on 7-of-13 with 3-of-5 from three and a stretch in the second quarter where he scored 9 consecutive points that pushed the Bulls' lead to its widest point.

Miller's second quarter was the highlight of the bench performance — 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting in 9 minutes at a +5 — but he cooled off considerably after halftime, shooting 2-of-8 in the second half with 3 turnovers. Buzelis had 15 and 9 but was just 1-of-7 from three. The rebounding gap told a larger story about what Chicago is missing without Smith and Richards: Oklahoma City outrebounded the Bulls 58-47, with 15 offensive boards to Chicago's 10. Isaiah Hartenstein alone had 16 rebounds in 24 minutes. The Thunder also had 9 steals and 9 blocks to Chicago's 4 and 5. Without legitimate size in the frontcourt, these are the kinds of margins that turn close games into losses.

Looking Ahead

The Bulls are 29-44 and officially eliminated from postseason contention. They have lost four of their last five games and sit 24 games behind Detroit in the Central Division. Before Wednesday's blowout loss in Philadelphia, Giddey said the team needed to avoid splintering as the season winds down. "There are a lot of free agents in the room, so a lot of guys have contract situations coming up," he said, "but I think the most important thing is we keep playing the right way." Friday's first half suggested the message was still resonating. Friday's second half suggested the message has limits when the opponent is the best team in the league and your best player can't buy a bucket. Chicago visits Memphis on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. ET on Peacock in the back end of a back-to-back.

For Oklahoma City, the win moved the Thunder to 58-16 and kept them in front of San Antonio in the race for home-court advantage. The Thunder opened the night two games ahead of the idle Spurs with nine games to play, and San Antonio holds the tiebreaker, so every win matters. SGA's 25 points on 8-of-24 shooting was one of his less efficient nights of the season, but the record streak continued — 134 consecutive games with at least 20 points. Jalen Williams looked comfortable in his first home game in over two months, and Wallace's 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting provided exactly the kind of secondary scoring OKC needed with Holmgren unavailable. The Thunder host the New York Knicks on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET on NBC.