warriors vs bulls preview (Photo: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports)
Golden State Warriors (35-22) vs. Chicago Bulls (30-26)
Tip-off: Wednesday, February 25th, 2014 – 8:00 PM ET
Location: United Center, Chicago, IL
Spread: Chicago Bulls +2.0, meaning the Warriors are favored to win by 2.0 points
TV: CSN Bay Area | Radio: KNBR 680 AM
Livetweet: @LetsGoWarriors (by @goldenstatenz)
Last Game / Streak:
DET– Won 107-103 vs ATL in Atlanta, Won 1 game in a row
GSW – Won 104-96 vs DET in Detroit, Won 4 straight games
Probable Starting Lineups:
Warriors:
PG: Stephen Curry (24.5 PPG, 9.0 APG, 4.5 RPG)
SG: Klay Thompson (18.7 PPG, 2.6 APG, 3.0 RPG)
SF: Andre Iguodala (9.7 PPG, 4.5 APG, 4.4 RPG)
PF: Jermaine O’Neal (6.3 PPG, 0.4 APG, 4.7 RPG)
C: Andrew Bogut (8.1 PPG, 1.6 APG, 10.6 RPG)
HEAD COACH: Mark Jackson (105-100)
Bulls
PG: Kirk Hinrich (8.6 PPG, 4.3 APG, 2.9 RPG)
SG: Tony Snell (5.7 PPG, 1.0 APG, 2.0 RPG)
SF: Mike Dunleavy, Jr. (10.9 PPG, 2.1 APG, 4.0 RPG)
PF: Carlos Boozer (14.7 PPG, 1.6 APG, 8.5 RPG)
C: Joakim Noah (12.0 PPG, 4.5 APG, 7.7 RPG)
HEAD COACH: Tom Thibodeau (187-99)
[NOTE: What’s wrong with the Bulls and are there similarities in the coaching situation with Jim Harbaugh? Here’s our report.]
UPDATE: David Lee will play, but not start. Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group reports:
Jermaine O'Neal will start, with David Lee coming off the bench.
— Diamond Leung (@diamond83) February 27, 2014
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Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle writes:
Warriors power forward David Lee will return to the lineup Wednesday night against Chicago after missing two games and spending 36 hours in a Stanford hospital with a bad case of the stomach flu.
“It’s been a rough couple of days,” Lee said. “I don’t really know how I got the stomach flu, but I got a really bad case of it – to the point of having to be hospitalized for about 36 hours at Stanford. They did a great job of getting me back, getting some fluids in me and getting some medicine in me. I’m feeling a lot better.”
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While he was at the hospital, Lee was rehydrated intravenously and took a battery of test to check for things like appendicitis. He wasn’t feeling well enough to fly with the team to Detroit for Monday’s game, but he met up with the Warriors in Chicago on Tuesday night and made it through Wednesday morning’s shootaround.
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“It was almost scary for a couple of days,” Lee said. “I really haven’t felt that bad at any point in my life. It was very, very bad.”
#DubNation is on a roll:
Warriors defense has been stellar in 4game win streak, allowing 93.3 points per game with opponents shooting 39.8%& 25.8% from3, 4;45pm@KNBR
— Tim Roye (@warriorsvox) February 26, 2014
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The Warriors head to Chicago on Wednesday to face off against the Bulls. The Bulls are four games over .500 on the season and are currently 30-26.
Chicago has a position in making the playoffs this season, as the East is just horrible and anything above .500 possibly can get you a playoff seed.
Chicago is coming off a win against the Atlanta Hawks. The Bulls had seven different players in double-digit points, with Mike Dunleavy scoring 22 points.
Jimmy Butler is uncertain to play after sitting out back-to-back games with bruised ribs for the Bulls.
The Dubs are coming off a win against the Detroit Pistons. The win against the Pistons was one of the six games they have to play on the road. The Warriors are on the verge of its second-longest winning streak of the season.
With the West being a much tougher conference this season, the Warriors are only in sixth place in the playoff race. Golden State is currently in the top ten in both scoring offense and scoring defense this season, putting up an average of 103.3 points per game, while allowing just 98.6.
The Warriors are hoping to see Lee return after missing the last two games due to the stomach flu. Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle, who is traveling with the team, reported this morning:
David Lee (stomach illness) went through the Warriors' shootaround and is a game-time decision for tonight's meeting with Chicago.
— Rusty Simmons (@Rusty_SFChron) February 26, 2014
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Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group, who is also traveling with the team, reported yesterday on Lee’s status:
Warriors forward David Lee is scheduled to rejoin the team Tuesday after missing the past two games due to the stomach flu, and he’s listed as questionable for Wednesday’s game at Chicago.
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“Hopefully, everything will be fine moving forward,” Jackson said. “I expect him to (play), but we’ll see how he is when he gets here, and we’ll make a determination based on that.”
Because he has already rejoined the team in Chicago, we are assuming that Lee will play and, therefore, true to Jackson’s old school ways and “no excuses” mentality, start against the Bulls tonight. Mark Kreidler of 95.7 The Game agreed, as reported by CSN Bay Area:
Kreidler: “No, but that’s not to take anything away from what he’s done … Ideally, Lee’s back on the floor, Bogut’s back on the floor and Jermaine O’Neal becomes part of a bench that for the first time all year starts to look like they’ve really got an idea what they want to do out there …”
Noey Kupchan of STATS writes:
“There’s definitely a lot more to be accomplished,” said Curry, whose team has won 11 of 14 on the road after opening 6-9. “Our expectations are high and this is a good checkpoint for us to keep that up. It’s nice to know in my five years this is the best it’s been, so that’s a good feeling, but we want more.”
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Curry was at his best in a 102-87 win over the Bulls on Feb. 6, posting 34 points and nine assists while shooting 13 of 19. A repeat performance could be hard to come by in Chicago, where Golden State has dropped 20 of 24, including four straight by an average of 18.3 points.
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Chicago (30-26) has won six of seven after pulling out a 107-103 victory at Atlanta on Tuesday. Former Warrior Mike Dunleavy led seven Bulls in double figures with 22 points and Joakim Noah added 20 and 12 rebounds as Chicago battled back from 14 down in the first quarter.
[NOTE: Poor Man’s Commish contributed to this report.]
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