Chicago Bulls defeat Oklahoma City Thunder

In a star-studded Thursday night matchup, the Chicago Bulls defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 104 to 98 at the United Center in Chicago. The Bulls improved their record to 4-2 while the Thunder lost their third straight and are now 3-3.

The Bulls were led by their dynamic backcourt in Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler. Rose, who had scored less than 10 points in three straight games, broke out of his slump in a big way by scoring 29 points while dishing out 7 assists. Rose was in attack mode the entire game and his aggressive play fueled the Bulls to victory.

Butler meanwhile was phenomenal on both ends of the court, as he scored 26 points and was the primary defender on Kevin Durant throughout the game. Durant ended up with 33 points, but on 13/29 shooting. Butler was a pest on the defensive end all game and is continuing to show that the Bulls made the right move in giving him max money.

Russell Westbrook flirted with a triple double for the Thunder as he had 20 points to go along with 10 assists and 8 rebounds. Him and Serge Ibaka, who scored 17 points, had great success on the pick-and-roll and were on the same page throughout the game. The Thunder also got a nice contribution from Enes Kanter, who scored 11 points off the bench.

The Bulls backcourt however was too much for the Thunder as Rose and Butler combined for 55 points, 9 assists and 9 rebounds.

With the game in the balance late in the game, it was Rose who asserted himself and took over. He scored 12 points in the fourth quarter alone, including 10 straight for the Bulls to put the game away. All of this is even more impressive given the fact that he is still dealing with double vision as a result of his eye injury he suffered in training camp.

The Bulls look to make it two wins in a row when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves Saturday night, while the Thunder look to snap their three game losing streak when they host the Phoenix Suns Sunday night.