Thunder vs. Bulls Recap: Al Horford lone bright spot in 124-103 loss

Al Horford is a proud competitor and all-pro talent, and he played like he wanted to remind everyone of that fact against the Bulls.

The Oklahoma City Thunder were soundly defeated at the hands of the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night, but Al Horford’s performance gave head coach Mark Daigneault something to feel good about, at least.

It took nearly a month for Horford’s trade to the Thunder to become official after general manager Sam Presti agreed in principle to acquire him in exchange for Danny Green, and with Horford missing the team’s first preseason contest against the Spurs, it took even longer to get him in uniform than initially imagined.

But on Wednesday night, in just 16 minutes of action, Horford — who struggled last season as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers — appeared to turn back the clock. The veteran did all of his damage in the game’s first half, making his 15-point, seven-rebound outing all the more impressive.

Sharing the floor with his younger teammates, Horford was spry and engaged. The Thunder — who were playing without a number of rotation players including George Hill and Mike Muscala — trailed by 14 points at end of the second period before the Bulls blew the game open in the game’s second half.

The 34-year-old did most of his damage from the inside, but he shot 2-for-4 from long range en route to an overall 6-for-10 shooting performance.

After impressing in their debut, Thunder rookies Aleksej Pokusevski and Theo Maledon each struggled, shooting 2-for-11 and 3-for-9 from the field, respectively. Frank Jackson, however, chipped in 15 points off the bench.

For the Bulls, Coby White led the way with 27 points, while Zach LaVine scored 24.

All in all, it was a triumphant return to Oklahoma City for former head coach Billy Donovan. The two teams will be back at it on Friday night for the Thunder’s preseason finale.

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