Oklahoma City Thunder vs Chicago Bulls Preseason Game Review 10/23/2012

Oct 23, 2012; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls power forward Carlos Boozer (5) shoots the ball over Oklahoma City Thunder center Hasheem Thabeet (34) during the second half at the United Center. Chicago defeats Oklahoma City 94-89. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-US PRESSWIRE

Oklahoma City Thunder 89 – 94 Chicago Bulls

Yesterday`s most notable game was in the United Center, Chicago Ill. The Thunder played in the NBA Finals last year and they pretty much have the same roster this year. Only a few rookie additions have been added to their team. The Bulls were expected to be in the NBA Finals too but the injury of Derrick Rose ended those dreams immediately.

Chicago Bulls

This season is going to be tough for the Bulls fans. Omer Asik signed with the Houston Rockets and Derrick Rose is still out for most of the regular season. The Bulls management signed plenty of veteran players to recover from the Rose injury. Nate Robinson, Nazr Mohammed, Kirk Hinrich, Radmonovic were the notable signings for this summer. Mohammed can replace Omer Asik with his experience in the NBA and can help Noah and Boozer in the paint. His scoring potential is better than Omer Asik’s but his defense is not on the same level as Asik’s. Nate Robinson is going to have key role on the team this year. As we saw in yesterday`s game he brought up the energy for the Bulls. He played 30 minutes and scored 8 points. He also added 4 assists as well. Without Rose, Boozer should take on more responsibility in the offense. He had a very good game yesterday while matched up with Ibaka. He scored 24 points and had 12 rebounds. Wing man Luol Deng had 21 points in 37 minutes. Trade rumors are around his name and he is the only valuable asset on the Bulls roster besides Rose.

Bulls game plan?

It is pretty clear that the Bulls cannot play the same game style without Rose. They need to play fast and smooth and shoot the ball as much as they can. Yesterday`s game they fast breaked a lot and it worked for them.

Oct 23, 2012; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah (13) shoots the ball against Oklahoma City Thunder power forward Serge Ibaka (9) during the second half at the United Center. Chicago defeats Oklahoma City 94-89. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-US PRESSWIRE

Oklahoma City Thunder

There is nothing much to say about the Thunder team from yesterday`s game. They played pretty decent with their rotation players. One notable thing for them has been the improvement of Serge Ibaka. Ibaka looked like a real All-Star player rather than one known only for his defense. He showed that he is able to score. He had 24 points in the game. He made 1 three pointer in the game too. He is working on developing a 3-point shot and it seems to be working.

Game Key Point

No Westbrook and Durant, no win for OKC.