Gilgeous-Alexander leads Thunder against Bulls seeking 10th straight win on TSN
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The Oklahoma City Thunder are getting hot at the right time, surging with nine straight victories to take the title of best record in the NBA from the Cleveland Cavaliers with only eight games remaining on the schedule.
Oklahoma City will look to keep that momentum going when they take on the Chicago Bulls on Monday night.
You can watch the Thunder face the Bulls LIVE on TSN2, streaming on TSN.ca and the TSN App, with coverage starting at 8p.m. ET / 5p.m. PT.
As has often been the case through Oklahoma City's (62-12) impressive season, Canadian guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been at the heart of their success.
The Hamilton, Ont. native is in the midst of an MVP-level campaign which sees him leading the NBA in points per game (32.9) and averaging 6.3 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game.
Over the course of the nine-game winning streak, which features victories over tough opponents including the defending-champion Boston Celtics and Memphis Grizzlies, Gilgeous-Alexander has scored more than 30 points in every game but two (he sat in one game, 133-100 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers earlier in March, for rest purposes).
Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault, who started as an assistant coach with Oklahoma City in 2019 before ascending to the head coaching role a year later, heaped praise on Gilgeous-Alexander following the team's 103-101 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on March 23 where Gilgeous-Alexander hit two insurance free throws with three seconds remaining.
“The speed he’s playing with; in transition, inside of actions, and on the catch is a huge jump,” Daigneault said. “I think his defence has really improved [since joining the Thunder in 2019]. At that time, he’s a young player, he’s in his second year; your scope as a player is narrow when you’re in your second year."
"You’re just trying to stay in the NBA, establish yourself, figure out how good you are. You tend to be tight. Over time, he’s just widened that lens to where now I think he sees almost everything through a team lens.”
Outside of a 140-127 loss at the hands of Nikola Jokic - this season's other top MVP candidate - and the Denver Nuggets, the Thunder have wins in 16 of their past 17 games.
“Despite the fact that he’s on the doorstep of winning an MVP award last year and this year, he sees things through a broader lens, and sees things through the lens of the team,” Daigneault added. “So, he makes incremental growth almost monthly, it seems. The speed on offence, the impact on defence, and then the leadership, and team orientation, it’s like night and day. He’s really done an impressive job.”
The Bulls (33-41) control the first play-in spot in the Eastern Conference, and have been playing their best basketball of the season in the month of March, winning nine of their last 12 games.
Perhaps the most impressive victory in the run came on March 27, when the Bulls knocked off the Los Angeles Lakers 119-117 on a half-court buzzer-beater from Josh Giddey.
“The way we play the game, I think it wears people down," Giddey said after the game. "We get up and down. We run. We put heat on them to get back. A lot of veteran teams don’t particularly want to get back and play in transition.”
The Bulls looked lost heading into the All-Star break in February, with four consecutive losses of 15-or-more points dropping them down to 22-33, but the team has gained confidence in the month of March, with big wins over top competitors in the Lakers (twice) and Nuggets.
“We’ve shown over the last month to six weeks that we can beat anybody,” Giddey said.