Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will aim to extend his NBA record of road games with at least 20 points as the Thunder visit the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 points to boost the Western Conference-leading Thunder in Sunday’s 100-87 victory at Dallas. That marked his 59th straight contest away from home with 20 or more points, an all-time league best.
“He’s a great road player, obviously; there’s really no difference in his game, home or road,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “I think that’s a certain level that some guys get to, is just their ability to consistently perform in all the environments. We have a lot of guys like that within their role, but he’s certainly one of them.”
Gilgeous-Alexander contributed 23 points in his most recent trip to Chicago, helping Oklahoma City to a 114-95 victory on Oct. 26, 2024. While the Bulls are winless in their past six meetings with the Thunder, they’ve especially struggled against them at home, where Chicago hasn’t defeated Oklahoma City since the 2021-22 season.
The Bulls stopped an 11-game losing streak on Sunday, rallying from a 16-point third-quarter deficit to top visiting Milwaukee 120-97.
A franchise-record 27-0 run bridging the third and fourth quarters boosted the Bulls to their first victory since Jan. 31.
“Any time you go on a losing streak like that, every game becomes more and more desperate,” Chicago guard Josh Giddey said. “But I thought during the losing streak — obviously wins are what you want, but there were steps in the right direction. I thought we did a lot of good things and (Sunday) that all came together for the first time.”
Giddey recorded 20 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists for his eighth triple-double of the season. Collin Sexton, one of several new players acquired during the trade deadline, scored a game-high 22 points.
Matas Buzelis, who has started each of the team’s 61 games, agreed the Bulls “took some great strides” Sunday.
“It’s different for everybody,” said Buzelis, who chipped in 20 points against the Bucks. “We have basically a new team.”
Oklahoma City won in Dallas behind its usual suspects, with Chet Holmgren adding 19 points and nine rebounds. Holmgren is averaging a career-best 17.2 points on 55.3% shooting.
Reserves Isaiah Joe (14 points) and Jared McCain (11) also scored in double figures against the Mavericks.
Joe swished three of the Thunder’s eight 3-pointers. After connecting on just 34.2% of his attempts from deep in January, Joe is shooting 49.5% from beyond the arc in the past 13 games.
“The guy can flat-out shoot it with the best of them,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I’m not surprised by any of it. He didn’t start the year as hot as he is now, so I knew it’d be evened out. I’m not surprised at all.”
Oklahoma City leads the NBA with 22.5 points off turnovers per game. The Bulls had 18 giveaways Sunday and are averaging 15.1.
