Preview: Chicago Bulls pay a visit to the Oklahoma City Thunder
Both the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Chicago Bulls managed to sneak into the play-offs last year as eighth seeds. While both teams got knocked out in the first round, they enter the
current season with a lot of reason for optimism.
The teams will kick off their regular seasons tonight at 8 p.m. with the Bulls paying a visit to the Thunder at the Ford Center.
The Thunder made it to the play-offs last year in only their second year since the franchise moved from Seattle to Oklahoma City. After only managing a disappointing 23 wins two seasons
ago, the Thunder, with the help of the much-improved Kevin Durant, finished last season with 27 more wins, finishing the season 50-32.
Last year was clearly a breakout season for the 22-year-old Durant, who led the league in scoring with 30.1 points per game, finished second in MVP voting behind LeBron James, and led
his team as they pushed the Los Angeles Lakers to six games in a first-round series that could have gone either way.
Durant is quietly confident going into the season and looks for his team to improve upon last year’s impressive campaign.
"I think we have confidence but we still know that last year is over with," said Durant. "We know that we had a good year, we made it to the playoffs, but this year we know that we've
got to start back at square one. We've got to work hard every day to get better, continue to fight every day and work together as a team and continue to be one group."
Durant, the favourite to win this year’s regular season MVP award according to a recent poll of NBA GMs, should enter the season filled with confidence after winning MVP for the U.S. team's
gold medal campaign at the FIBA World Championship this summer. Playing alongside his point guard Russell Westbrook during the tournament, Durant averaged 22.8 points per game while Westbrook averaged 9.1. Westbrook was the second-best player on the Thunder
last year, averaging 16.1 points and 8.0 assists.
The Thunder added some backcourt depth over the summer, bringing in Daequan Cook, Morris Peterson, and Royal Ivey. But Thunder coach Scott Brooks, last season’s Coach of the Year, knows
that his team begins and ends with Durant.
"He really thinks of himself as a guy that just has to work extremely hard to make a team," Brooks said of his star player. "He has that mentality, and that's what champions are made of."
Derrick Rose, also a member of the U.S. team over the summer, averaged 20.8 points for the Bulls last season, up from 16.8 the previous year. Finishing last year with a record of 41-41,
the Bulls only managed to win one game against the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers, bowing out of the play-offs in five games. This year, the Bulls’ core of Rose and Joakim Noah, with the latter signing a contract extension with the team over the summer, will
be surrounded by some new faces. New signings include power forward Carlos Boozer, shooting guard Ronnie Brewer, and sharpshooter Kyle Korver. Rose looks forward to a stronger veteran presence on this Bulls team.
"It (is) exciting that the new players are good players," Rose said. "They're not selfish. They can definitely help my game. They're older than I am, so they know the NBA game better than
me."
The Bulls also replaced coach Vinny Del Negro with Tom Thibodeau, an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics last season. But Thibodeau will be without the services of Carlos Boozer to
begin the season, who broke a bone in his right hand after tripping over a bag at his house earlier this month and isn’t expected back until January.
"You hate to lose a guy like that, but it's also part of the NBA," Thibodeau said. "You have injuries, but we have good depth."
In four meetings last year, the teams split the games, with the road team winning every time.
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