The Thunder lost by five points in this heartbreaking loss. The final score was 106-101 in Chicago’s favor. Despite the loss, OKC had multiple players show some major promise in the contest. Here is the Thunder vs. Bulls recap.
Roby had been a negligent part of the rotation for much of the season despite having a very solid sophomore campaign last season. He showed everyone that he’s still perfectly capable of producing when given the playing time. In this game, he put up a very nice stat-line: seven points, four boards, one dime, three steals and three swats on 3/6 from the field and 1/3 from the three-point line. Roby has only played in 20 games this year, starting six of them. Per 36 minutes, he is averaging some very solid numbers: 16.6 points, eight boards, 1.8 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.1 blocks a game. The guy deserves to play some more minutes due to his versatility and it wouldn’t be surprising if he sees more minutes towards the end of the season, maybe even right after the all-star break.
Bazley has been performing much better over the last couple of weeks. This game, put up a nice line of 17 points, eight boards, five assists, two steals and three blocks on 7/21 from the field, 1/5 from three and 2/2 from the line. Talk about a nice line and what’s even better is that he’s consistently hitting free throws now after shooting below 65% for the first half of the season. Over the last couple of weeks, he is averaging 14.3 points, 1.6 threes, 8.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.4 steals and one block on 42% from the field and 70% from the line. It’s nice to see him get it together after starting off the year on a dreadful note. Expect him to keep it up for the rest of the season.
Mann had a rough go of it this time around. He put up a mediocre line of eight points, one rebound, one assist, one block and zero turnovers on 3/11 from the field and 2/6 from three. He’s not going to lack for shots in this offense so chalk it up as an off night. Mann is still learning how to be a starter at the NBA level and one word to describe his play style is aggressive. He’s averaging 11.3 points, 2.1 threes, 2.1 boards, 1.8 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.3 blocks on 31% from the field (12.1 attempts a game) and 87% from the line. Expect him to keep getting more opportunities in the absence of Lu Dort and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Poku is finally getting minutes and it’s really nice to see. This time he only played 14 minutes, but he was still able to put up a solid stat line. He put up seven points, four boards and three blocks on 2/5 from the field, 1/2 from the three-point line and 2/2 from the line. Over the last month, Poku has been pumping out averages of 13 points, two threes, 5.8 boards, 1.3 assists, one steal, 1.5 blocks and 1.5 turnovers on 62% from the field and 100% from the line. He’s been on a major tear since coming back into the rotation and hopefully, he stays there. Expect him to keep getting minutes until the end of the season.
