NEW YORK — Both the Chicago Bulls and Oklahoma City Thunder rose from the 10-seed to appearances in the second round of the NBA play-in tournament this week, once again giving life to the purpose behind the tournament in its third year.
Locked On NBA hosts Nick Angstadt and Pat Morenzoni, in a postgame edition of the show, discussed Chicago and Oklahoma City's wins in two great games.
Former All-Star guard Zach LaVine scored 39 points for the Bulls, making more than half his shots in 40 minutes played and turning the ball over just four times.
“Give Zach LaVine his flowers, his flowers are due. I thought he played well on both ends," Morenzoni said. "And I thought that Zach LaVine really was the best player on the Chicago Bulls’ court tonight.”
Chicago also dominated inside despite a size disadvantage against their opponent, the Toronto Raptors.
“For a team like the Raptors with all these guys with long wingspans who are known as defensive guys, you wouldn’t allow 52 points in the paint to a team that is mostly a jump-shooting team,” Angstadt said.
In the Western Conference, the young Thunder disposed of the New Orleans Pelicans, last year's surprise play-in tournament winner.
All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander put the team on his back late with two clutch buckets in the final minutes to clinch the win.
“I think this Thunder team takes on his mentality, takes on his approach to the game. He is so poised. Nothing rattles him. He’s calm," Angstadt said. "And I think they just take so many cues from him … and they can withstand these runs.”
On top of his performance, the Thunder got big nights out of Josh Giddey, and Luguentz Dort as well.
“I feel really good about the future of the Oklahoma City Thunder yet again because what we saw tonight was a masterful performance," Morenzoni said. "I thought they did a really good job keeping control.”
Oklahoma City will play in Minnesota on Friday night for a spot in the West playoffs, while Chicago travels to Miami for the final spot out East.