CHICAGO -- As much point production as the Oklahoma City Thunder have at their disposal, Russell Westbrook chooses to put more emphasis on how his team performs defensively.

Given the players around him, the points will come, Westbrook knows. But if the Thunder can disrupt what opponents are attempting to do, he realizes the wins will certainly come with more regularity.

On Saturday, the Thunder showed how dangerous they can be when they put everything together.

Carmelo Anthony scored 21 points, Paul George added 20 and Westbrook posted a triple-double as the Thunder routed the Chicago Bulls 101-69.

The Thunder never trailed and relied on a balanced scoring attack while limiting the Bulls to 28.2 percent shooting from the field.

"(Defense) just set the tone," Westbrook said. "When we're able to do that, it puts us in position to do good things."

Westbrook posted his third triple-double of the season and crossed the Bulls off the list as the only NBA team he hadn't registered a triple-double against during his career. Westbrook finished with 12 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists in 28 minuted of court time.

Steven Adams and Raymond Felton rounded out Oklahoma City's offense by scoring 12 points apiece.

But it was Oklahoma City's defense that made the biggest difference. The Thunder opened the second quarter on an 18-2 run and outscored Chicago 24-8 in the quarter. The Bulls, who finished 22 of 78 from the field, never recovered.

"We were really active with our hands," Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. "(The Bulls) do a great job of moving, cutting and spacing the floor, but our hands were really active....We had stamina and we had discipline for long periods of time."

Rookie Lauri Markkanen led the Bulls with 15 points and Justin Holiday finished with 11 points. Robin Lopez added 10 for Chicago (1-4). But the shooting woes the Bulls experienced throughout the night made the growing pains the young Bulls have already endured even more evident.

"We took a step in the wrong direction tonight," a visibly upset Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said afterward. "We didn't compete. We didn't stay together. We didn't fight through adversity as a team. We were careless. We were stagnant. They (the Thunder) got to loose balls. That can't happen. That cannot happen with this group."

The blowout victory came a night after the Thunder (3-3) experienced a tumultuous charter flight to Chicago following a three-point loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday in Minneapolis.

And after a failure to execute in the final minutes cost them against the Timberwolves, the Thunder had no such struggles against the Bulls and led wire-to-wire. The change, especially on short rest, impressed Donovan. But Saturday's performance, Westbrook said, must be a sign of things to come if Oklahoma City is going to contend for an NBA championship.

The scoring they will receive from George, Anthony and Westbrook certainly won't hurt. But Westbrook, who had two steals as part of a defensive effort that forced 19 Chicago turnovers, continues to emphasis that effort over offensive productivity.

"Honestly, my main thing coming into this year was finding ways to impact the game defensively the way I know I can," Westbrook said. "For me, that's part of my job...is to be that player who is able to do that on a night in, night out basis."

NOTES: The Thunder arrived in Chicago early Saturday morning with the nose of its chartered plane caved in. Coach Billy Donovan said there was a concern about cabin pressure that forced pilots to fly at a lower altitude than normal for about half of the team's flight from Minneapolis. Delta Airlines told The Oklahoman that the plane likely hit a bird during its descent. "I'm sure there was a little bit of nervousness," Donovan said. "I don't want to create a situation where we had a frantic team with their heads between their legs. That didn't happen." ... Bulls G Kris Dunn played for the first time after missing four games with a dislocated finger. ... Bulls F Paul Zipser returned after missing a game with a knee contusion. ... Bulls F Nikola Mirotic (facial contusions, concussion) will begin supervised activity next week as he recovers from injuries sustained in a fight with F Bobby Portis.