Today's afternoon game featuring the best teams of the west and east was one we have all had circled on our calendars since opening day of the season. The Thunder welcomed the league-leading Chicago Bulls for a mid-season test to see how the Thunder might hold up against the Bulls. OKC did...pretty good.

Perhaps it was a bit of a letdown to see Chicago have to go without their leader and league-reigning MVP Derrick Rose, and we certainly were looking forward to a Russell Westbrook-Derrick Rose match-up. What made up for the fact though was that today's game was really more about how the Thunder would deal with Chicago's defense more than anything else. In the first half, both defenses did well and kept the game relatively close throughout. However, in the third the Thunder let the dogs out and ran Chicago off the court, outscoring the Bulls 31-12 to take a 29 point lead heading into the 4th. It was an offensive attack that showed us the Thunder are unafraid of facing a great defense and also that they're finally starting to more effectively game plan against their opponents. Both will serve them well in a month's time.