Oklahoma City Falls to Chicago, 99-90

Thunder post worst shooting night of the season in loss to Bulls.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:05 pm

By: News On 6

Originally Published: Dec 6, 2010 10:2 PM CDT

Grant Belcher
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

CHICAGO – Even NBA players have off nights every once in a while.

But when all a team’s players have off nights on the same night, it’s a recipe for disaster.

The Oklahoma City Thunder put up one of their ugliest performances of the season on Monday in a 99-90 loss to Chicago.

OKC shot just 35 percent from the floor on the game and 21 percent from 3-point range.

Meanwhile, the Bulls had a much more solid night, shooting 48 percent from the floor and 45 percent from 3.

The Thunder certainly started the game a lot more effectively than they ended it.

The two teams kept the game close and Oklahoma City even led briefly, taking a 31-30 advantage on a James Harden free throw four minutes into the second quarter.

Just a couple of minutes later, however, the Bulls used a 13-4 run to take an 11-point lead and set the tone for the second half.

The second half was all Chicago as the Bulls outscored OKC 29-18 in the third quarter and capped it off with a 40-foot buzzer beater from Derrick Rose to lead by 16 at the end of the third.

Kevin Durant put up his usual scoring output with 29, but shot 7-of-18 from the field to do it.

Russell Westbrook added 15 points and seven assists, but forward Jeff Green shot just 1-of-9 in a seven-point night.

Center Nenad Krstic was likely the most effective scorer for OKC, with 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting.

Chicago outrebounded Oklahoma City by 13 and also had12 more assists than the Thunder.

OKC’s only impressive statistical category was its always-impressive free-throw shooting, hitting them at a 90 percent clip for the game.

Chicago forward Carlos Boozer played in just his fourth game of the season after having surgery on his hand to start the season, but scored 29 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.

The Thunder will travel to Minnesota next to take on the Timberwolves at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.