{"id":683033,"date":"2026-03-27T22:50:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T22:50:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/683033\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T22:50:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T22:50:16","slug":"thunder-vs-bulls-how-to-watch-as-oklahoma-city-battles-for-no-1-seed-chet-holmgren-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/683033\/","title":{"rendered":"Thunder vs. Bulls: How to watch as Oklahoma City battles for No. 1 seed; Chet Holmgren out"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>            OKLAHOMA CITY &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>The Oklahoma City Thunder return to Paycom Center Friday night with the race for the No. 1 overall seed tightening.<\/p>\n<p>Oklahoma City hosts the Chicago Bulls as the Thunder try to maintain separation from the San Antonio Spurs, who have won 23 of their last 25 games.<\/p>\n<p>The Thunder enter Friday at 57-16, two games ahead of San Antonio for the top spot in both the Western Conference and the NBA overall.<\/p>\n<p>Despite Wednesday\u2019s loss in Boston snapping a 12-game winning streak, Oklahoma City has still won 15 of its last 17 games since the All-Star break.<\/p>\n<p>\n    Thunder vs. Bulls: Where\/how to watch<\/p>\n<p>Matchup: Chicago Bulls at Oklahoma City Thunder<br \/>Date: Friday, March 27<br \/>Time: 7 p.m. CT<br \/>Location: Paycom Center, Oklahoma City<br \/>TV: FanDuel Sports Network<\/p>\n<p>\n    No. 1 seed matters<\/p>\n<p>Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander emphasized the importance of securing home-court advantage.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s very important and not just in the West, in the whole playoffs,\u201d Gilgeous-Alexander said. \u201cWe needed Game 7 at home against Denver (last year) &#8230; and then we needed it against Indiana to win the championship, so it\u2019s as important as everything and every team in the NBA that makes the playoffs knows that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gilgeous-Alexander also welcomes the competitive finish to the regular season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLast year I had too much time off before the playoff game and the last game I played in the regular season, so I think I was a little bit rusty going into the playoffs,\u201d Gilgeous-Alexander said. \u201cAnd I just love to play, so I\u2019ll get a chance to go out there and play a few more games, which will be fun.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>RELATED: <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newson6.com\/oklahoma-city-thunder\/watch-shai-gilgeous-alexander-reacts-after-thunders-12-game-winning-streak-snapped-in-boston\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">SGA reacts after Thunder\u2019s 12-game winning streak snapped in Boston<\/a><\/p>\n<p>    <a class=\"AnchorLink\" href=\"#watch-shai-gilgeous-alexander-reacts-after-thunders-12-game-winning-streak-snapped-in-boston\" id=\"watch-shai-gilgeous-alexander-reacts-after-thunders-12-game-winning-streak-snapped-in-boston\" name=\"watch-shai-gilgeous-alexander-reacts-after-thunders-12-game-winning-streak-snapped-in-boston\"\/><\/p>\n<p>    <a class=\"Link\" aria-label=\"Watch: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reacts after Thunder\u2019s 12-game winning streak snapped in Boston&lt;br&gt;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newson6.com\/oklahoma-city-thunder\/watch-shai-gilgeous-alexander-reacts-after-thunders-12-game-winning-streak-snapped-in-boston\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774651816_532_.webp\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n        SGA calls Thunder\u2019s early lead \u201cfool\u2019s gold\u201d and says Boston \u201cgot where they wanted\u201d in playoff-like matchup<\/p>\n<p>March 25, 2026 11:08 PM<\/p>\n<p>1 min read<\/p>\n<p>\n    Thunder getting healthier <\/p>\n<p>Wednesday\u2019s game in Boston marked the first time this season Oklahoma City had its full rotation available. Jalen Williams continues working back after missing extended time with a hamstring injury.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not going to be linear but we\u2019re happy to have him back and get him in some of these games and get him back acclimated,\u201d Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. \u201cHe\u2019s played high-level games for a young player, so I\u2019m really not worried about the performance as much as I am getting him out there, getting his feet wet again, and getting him ready to go as we ramp up toward the playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Thunder now have nine games remaining before the playoffs begin April 18.<\/p>\n<p>\n    Bulls fighting for postseason survival<\/p>\n<p>Chicago enters Friday at 29-43 and has lost 18 of its last 23 games. The Bulls are coming off a 20-point loss to Philadelphia.<\/p>\n<p>A loss to Oklahoma City would eliminate Chicago from postseason contention.<\/p>\n<p>Bulls coach Billy Donovan has also been linked to the North Carolina coaching opening.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy main focus is on these guys and this new team,\u201d Donovan said. \u201cI understand that there\u2019s stuff out there, and I understand there is going to be certain speculation, but I have to concentrate on this group.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Oklahoma City won the first meeting 116-108 in Chicago on March 3 despite being without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell.<\/p>\n<p>\n    Thunder injury report <\/p>\n<p>Out<br \/>\u2022 Chet Holmgren \u2014 Right hip contusion<br \/>\u2022 Thomas Sorber \u2014 Right ACL, surgical recovery<\/p>\n<p>\n    Playoff positioning<\/p>\n<p>Western Conference (Projected)<\/p>\n<p>ThunderSpursLakersNuggetsTimberwolvesRockets<\/p>\n<p>The Thunder have already clinched a playoff berth and now focus on securing the No. 1 overall seed and home-court advantage throughout the postseason.<\/p>\n<p>Key postseason dates\u2022 NBA Play-In Tournament: April 14-17<br \/>\u2022 NBA Playoffs begin: April 18<br \/>\u2022 NBA Finals Game 1: June 3<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OKLAHOMA CITY &#8211; The Oklahoma City Thunder return to Paycom Center Friday night with the race for the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":683034,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3783],"tags":[7,6,310,475,179,3966,3965,312],"class_list":{"0":"post-683033","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oklahoma-city-thunder","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-oklahoma","11":"tag-oklahoma-city","12":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","13":"tag-oklahomacity","14":"tag-oklahomacitythunder","15":"tag-thunder"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116303589948020042","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=683033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683033\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/683034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=683033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=683033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=683033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}