Chicago Bulls keep streak alive vs. OKC's Westbrook
The Chicago Bulls are one of three opposing teams that have never given up a triple-double to Oklahoma City star Russell Westbrook.
The streak continued Wednesday night, but for a surprising reason. The Bulls played a dominant second half and rolled past the Thunder 128-100 at Chesapeake Energy Arena, getting the six-game, ice-show road trip off to a good start.
Since the game was out of hand, Westbrook didn't play much in the second half, finishing with 28 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds. Heading into the game, Westbrook was averaging a triple-double on the season.
Jimmy Butler got the best of this all-star battle, producing 28 points, 5 assists and 3 steals, hitting 11 of 17 shots from the field. Dwyane Wade added 18 points, and center Robin Lopez had 14. The Bulls (25-25) hit a season high in points scored and shot 60 percent from the field. They led 55-47 at halftime, then won the third quarter 39-26.
The Thunder (28-22) might have been tired after playing in Cleveland on Sunday and San Antonio on Tuesday. OKC hasn't won since third-leading scorer Enes Kanter broke his arm punching a chair in frustration.
The start of the Bulls' road trip will feature most of the NBA's elite players. After Westbrook, the Bulls will see James Harden in Houston on Friday, followed by Sacramento's DeMarcus Cousins, then Golden State's Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson. Phoenix and Minnesota are the last two stops.
Considering the drama surrounding the Bulls last week, it could be said this is a good time for the team to hit the road and get a chance to improve relationships on the road. Wade wasn't so sure.
"Every team says a road trip comes at a good time, so I don't like to be cliché no more," Wade said Tuesday at the Advocate Center. "So we'll see. It's always a good time when you're winning; it's always a bad time when you're losing.
"So our goal is to go out there and … we're going to have a lot of time together, from a team building and team bonding standpoint it's always good. But from a basketball standpoint, it's only good if you win. It's only bad if you're losing."
There was another hot Bulls topic Wednesday morning when an ESPN reporter told a story that the reason the relationship between Butler and the Bulls' front office is strained is because when he was negotiating an extension a few years ago, the team told him if he didn't sign for what they were offering he'd likely lose playing time to Tony Snell the following season.
It doesn't seem likely management could order former coach Tom Thibodeau to play Snell instead of Butler, so the story has some flaws. Speaking to reporters at Wednesday's shootaround, Butler wouldn't bite.
"I'll tell it to you like this: That (stuff) happened so long ago, I didn't think it was a matter of anything," Butler said, according to espn.com. "We went into contract negotiations. I said I would hoop and play the year out (and become a restricted free agent). I did that, had a decent little year."
Butler ended up signing a max extension on the first day of free agency in that summer of 2015.
"We won't go into detail about what was said, what wasn't said. It's not anybody's business," he said. "We got a deal done, I thought it was a fair deal. That's that. But for anybody to say this or say that … I don't know. To tell you the truth, I don't remember what went on. My agent was in there handling the majority of it.
"And then, my main thing was to just worry about basketball, so I can't tell you what was said or what wasn't. One, because it was so long ago, and two because it ain't y'all business anyways."
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