Shai Gilgeous-Alexander recorded 31 points and 10 assists to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 124-104 victory over the host Chicago Bulls in the season opener for both teams on Wednesday night.
Josh Giddey registered 16 points, six rebounds and six assists for Oklahoma City, which outscored Chicago 45-26 over the final 15-plus minutes. Jalen Williams scored 16 points and Isaiah Joe added 14 points for the Thunder.
DeMar DeRozan scored 20 points for the Bulls. Zach LaVine scored 16 points but was just 4-of-16 shooting and Coby White had 15 on 4-of-14 shooting. Nikola Vucevic contributed 11 points, nine rebounds and three steals for Chicago.
Oklahoma City big man Chet Holmgren had 11 points in 25 minutes in his NBA debut.
Holmgren’s first NBA game came 14 months after he sustained a Lisfranc injury to his right foot. The injury forced the No. 2 overall pick of the 2022 draft to miss all of last season.
Cason Wallace made his NBA debut for the Thunder and hit all five field-goal attempts — including three 3-pointers — while scoring 13 points off the bench.
Free-agent signee Torrey Craig added 11 points and seven rebounds off the bench for Chicago.
Oklahoma City shot 54.9 percent from the field, including 19 of 39 from 3-point range. Joe made three 3-pointers and Gilgeous-Alexander was 12 of 18 from the field.
The Bulls made 41.5 percent of their shots and were 12 of 42 from behind the arc. Craig made three 3-pointers.
A basket by Vucevic pulled the Bulls within 79-78 with 3:03 left in the third quarter before Oklahoma City posted runs of 12-0 and 11-0 over the next 6:09.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored seven points and Wallace had five during the string of 12 in a row as the Thunder opened up a 91-78 advantage. Chicago scored the next six points, including DeRozan’s basket to open the fourth quarter, to cut its deficit to seven.
Joe then made back-to-back 3-pointers and had eight points during the 11-0 burst. Wallace also had a trey as Oklahoma City led 102-84 with 9:54 remaining.
The man known as SGA connected on a 20-footer to push the lead to 20 for the first time at 111-91 with 5:36 left and Oklahoma City cruised to the finish.
Gilgeous-Alexander had 17 first-half points to help the Thunder hold a 61-55 lead. DeRozan led the Bulls with 10 in the half.
–Field Level Media
