Final: Oklahoma City 101 Bulls 69. Thunder (3-3, 1-2 road) Bulls 1-4 (1-2 home)
Leading scorers: Bulls: Markkanen-15 points. Thunder: Anthony 21 points
Leading rebounders: Bulls: Valentine: 9. Thunder: Westbrook: 13.
Leading assists: Bulls: Grant: 4. Thunder: Westbrook 13.
STAT OF THE NIGHT: Russell Westbrook registered his 1st triple double vs the Bulls, as the reigning MVP notched a 12-13-13 night. He has now recorded a triple-double against every opposing franchise in the NBA.
CCI 2nd STAT OF THE NIGHT: After a competitive first quarter that saw the Bulls trailing by three, the Thunder held the Bulls to 12% shooting and 8 points in the 2nd period, lowest scoring quarter total by the Bulls since February 2003.
MARKKANEN CONTINUES TO FILL IT UP: The rookie sensation set an NBA record for most made 3s to start a career knocking down 3 more—giving him 15 through the first 5 games. Markkanen finished with 15 points 8 rebounds 1-assist 1- block in 28 minutes.
DUNN MAKES BULLS DEBUT: The long awaited Bulls debut of Kris Dunn occurred when he was pronounced good to go by Head Coach Fred Hoiberg prior to the game. Dunn was injured in preseason dislocating his left index finger. He saw 22 minutes of action 8 points 4 rebounds 3 assists. According to Head Coach Fred Hoiberg the starting point guard position is “open.” In other words, practices leading up to Wednesday’s game at Miami will be extremely competitive.
INSIDE THE LOCKER ROOM: Dunn on making his regular season debut: “It’s exciting to get out there and get in front of the fans and play with my teammates. Just get a good run. I’m very excited I decided to play tonight.“
UP NEXT: At Miami, Wednesday.
NBA NEWS AND NOTES: Boston beats Miami as Celtics rookie Jayson Tatum, drafted third overall, is on fire. He’s averaging 15 points 6 rebounds shooting 50% and 53% 3pt range. I love this rookie class....Markkanen, Simmons, Tatum, Smith, Mitchell, Fox, etc. The Celtics were granted a disabled -player exception of 8.4 million by the NBA for the season ending injury to Gordon Hayward.
The potent combo of Cousins and Davis totaled 59 points, 26 rebounds..New Orleans handed Cleveland a 123-101 defeat. Cavs have dropped 3 out of their last 4.
The Suns are playing extremely hard for newly named interim head coach Jay Triano. His Suns hung tough on the road in Portland but the Blazers escaped with a 114-107 win.
A big night for big Andre Drummond..15 points and 17 rebounds..nice road win against the Clippers, handing LAC its first loss of the season.
After signing Isaiah Canaan to a one year non-guarantee contract four days ago, the Rockets released the former Bull on Saturday. Trevor Ariza returned from injury sooner than expected.
Derrick Rose missed his fourth consecutive game with an ankle injury.
Thanks for reading CCI. E-mail me cswirsky@bulls.com or Twitter: @ctsbulls
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