Oklahoma City Thunder vs Chicago Bulls Prediction, 1/13/2023 Preview and Pick

Game: Oklahoma City Thunder vs Chicago Bulls

Date: Friday, January 13, 2023

Location: United Center in Chicago, IL

TV: NBC Sports Chicago

The Oklahoma City Thunder are hitting the road to United Center on Friday where they will attempt to beat the Chicago Bulls.

The Thunder stepped onto the hardwood against the Heat and went home with a loss by a final score of 112-111 in their last contest. Oklahoma City wrapped up the contest with a 48.4% FG percentage (44 of 91) and converted 9 of their 35 three-point shots. At the charity stripe, the Thunder converted 14 of their 21 shots for a percentage of 66.7%. When talking about hauling in boards, they earned 44 with 14 of them being of the offensive sort. They also doled out 27 dimes for the game as well as forcing the opposition into 19 turnovers and having 8 steals. Pertaining to defense, Oklahoma City allowed the other team to shoot 39.2% from the field on 31 out of 79 shooting. Miami doled out 18 assists and had 10 steals for the game. On top of that, Miami had 41 rebounds (13 offensive, 28 defensive) and got 3 blocked shots. Miami shot 100.0% from the charity stripe by making 40 of 40 tries. They also converted 10 of their 33 attempts from 3-point land. When talking about personal fouls, the Thunder ended up with 27 and the Heat racked up 19 personal fouls.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is someone who came through in the game. Gilgeous-Alexander finished the game at 50.0% from the field and distributed 4 assists. He was on the court for 39 mins and also grabbed 4 boards. He accumulated 26 points on 9 of 18 shooting.

Get all of our NBA Picks Today

Oklahoma City enters this one with a win-loss mark of 18-23 on the campaign. They average 116.3 pts per game (9th in basketball) while connecting on 46.4% from the field. The Thunder are connecting on 35.5% on three-point shots (491 of 1,384) and 78.9% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Oklahoma City is snagging 44.3 rebounds per contest and has racked up 996 assists so far this season, which has them ranked 19th in the NBA in terms of passing the ball. They lose possession via turnover 14.1 times per contest and as a squad are committing 22.0 personal fouls on a nightly basis.

When they are on the defensive end, the Thunder are forcing their opponents into 16.9 turnovers per contest and they draw 19.9 personal fouls. They are ranked 11th in the league in giving up assists to the opposition with 1,016 relinquished for the season. The Thunder defensively are giving up a field goal percentage of 46.6% (1,708 of 3,667) and they relinquish 47.6 rebounds per contest as a squad. They surrender 35.9% on 3-point shots while they are 23rd in the league in points per game from their opponents (116.6).

In their last game, the Bulls took a loss by a final score of 100-97 when they faced the Wizards. The Bulls recorded 31 defensive rebounds and 8 offensive boards totaling 39 in the matchup. They also coughed it up 12 times, while recording 7 steals in this game. The Wizards had 18 fouls in this matchup which took the Bulls to the charity stripe for a total of 9 tries. They were able to make 6 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 66.7%. When discussing 3-point attempts, Chicago buried 9 of 29 tries (31.0%). When all was said and done, the Bulls shot 41 out of 88 from the floor which had them shooting 46.6%. The Bulls allowed the Wizards to convert 38 of 82 attempts from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 46.3% for this game. They finished 30.4% from distance by shooting 7 out of 23 and finished the game at 17 of 21 at the free throw line (81.0%). With respect to rebounding, Chicago allowed Washington to pull down 52 in total (12 on the offensive glass).

Zach LaVine ended up being a major contributor for the Bulls in the matchup. LaVine scored 38 points in his 41 minutes of playing time and had 2 dimes for the contest. He made 15 of 28 in this matchup giving him a field goal percentage of 53.6%, and had 5 rebounds.

Chicago has a mark of 19-23 for the campaign. As an offensive team, the Bulls are hitting on 48.8% from the floor, which ranks them 5th in basketball. Chicago has totaled 4,798 points so far this season (114.2 per game) and they grab 42.3 boards per game. They are assisting teammates 24.2 times per game (19th in the NBA) and they turn it over 13.7 times per game. The Bulls are responsible for committing 19.8 fouls per game and they connect on 81.3% from the free throw line.

The Bulls on the defensive end are ranked 18th in the league in points per game surrendered with 114.9. They are forcing 14.9 turnovers on a nightly basis and have let teams shoot 47.6% from the field (21st in the league). The Chicago defense allows 36.8% on shots from beyond the arc (567 of 1,540) and their opposition knocks down 77.5% of their shots from the free throw line. They relinquish 26.3 assists and 43.8 rebounds every game, which has them ranked 28th and 19th in the NBA.

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Oklahoma City

Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks. No Obligation. No Salesman. No Credit Card. Fast Sign up with Instant Access Click Here