Thunder extend road winning streak to nine with victory over Bulls

Oklahoma City held off a second-half charge led by Zach LaVine and Coby White, who combined for 76 points, to beat Chicago 124-122.

The most clutch team in the league did it again.

The Oklahoma City Thunder held off a fourth-quarter rally by the Chicago Bulls to win 124-122 on Tuesday night, extending their franchise-record road winning streak to nine games.

After OKC took a 72-57 lead into the half, the Bulls outscored Oklahoma City 38-19 in the third quarter, led by Zach LaVine and Coby White.

LaVine finished with a game-high 41 points while White added 35.

The duo had their way with the Thunder defense until the final 90 seconds of the game. Dennis Schroder took a charge against LaVine with OKC leading 115-114. Thirty seconds later Steven Adams blocked Daniel Gafford’s shot to preserve a three-point Thunder lead.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chris Paul combined to make seven-of-10 free throw attempts down the stretch to seal the victory.

Oklahoma City had six players in double-digits on Tuesday night, led by Danilo Gallinari, who made 5-of-10 from beyond the arc and outscored the Bulls by himself 14-4 at the start of the game.

Both Gilgeous-Alexander, as part of a double-double, to go with 11 rebounds, and Dennis Schroder had 21, while Paul added 19. Steven Adams scored 16.

Terrance Ferguson played 18 minutes, scoring 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field.

As noted by Erik Horne of The Athletic, it’s Ferguson’s highest point total since Jan. 13.

Ferguson was also important on the defensive end late in the game, not biting on LaVine’s pump fakes per Horne.

Lu Dort, who made history with his 15th start – the most by a two-way player since two-way contracts were introduced in 2017, had an off night. He played 21 minutes but did not score, attempting just two shots from the field a game after going a perfect 6-of-6 against the Spurs.

Oklahoma City improves to 36-22 overall and 17-10 on the road.

The Thunder return home to host the Kings on Thursday before heading back out as part of a back-to-back when they travel to Milwaukee to take on the Bucks on Friday.