UNITED CENTER, CHICAGO, IL — This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Golden State Warriors at the Chicago Bulls.
The Warriors held a 63-44 lead heading into halftime.
3rd Quarter – Showtime!
The Bulls’ defense stepped up in the third at the start, holding the Warriors at bay for much of the shotclock, but Klay Thompson got a lefty scoop down the left lane at the shotclock buzzer.
However, shortly thereafter, Draymond Green tried a runner against Taj Gibson and got hit in the noggin:
https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js
Green left the game and headed to the locker room.
Later, Stephen Curry turned a blocked layup by Pau Gasol into this gorgeous turnaround short jumper:
https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js
Andrew Bogut then snuffed out layups by Gibson and Jimmy Butler.
Butler managed to play some good one-on-one defense as Curry tried to probe the right side, to the crowd’s applause, but then Steph found Klay for a wicked triple — although he was just 3-for-12 overall — from the right side and Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg called timeout as the Warriors took a 72-56 lead with 5:26 to go in the quarter:
https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js
After the timeout and threes by Curry…
https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js
…and Harrison Barnes, the Warriors showed some grit and “showtime”.
Nikola Mirotic missed a right corner trey attempt, Curry boxed out Doug McDermott, who was still able to tip it, but missed. The ball was loose and Festus Ezeli dove for the ball, Barnes reached in and got it out of the scrum, fired a bullet outlet to Leandro Barbosa, who had to chase it down, and Barbosa gave a beautiful scoop alley-oop pass to Andre Iguodala for the emphatic slam:
https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js
Curry then fed Ezeli in the post, who gave a nice fake and stepped in for a scoop, an impressive show of finesse, and Hoiberg used another timeout to stop the bleeding. It was now 84-61, Warriors.
But before the period buzzer on the last possession, Curry used a high pick-and-roll to shed Derrick Rose, and took big dribbles down the lane for quasi-lefty dunk, and the Warriors’ lead ballooned to 87-63 at the end of the third:
https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js
4th Quarter – Exquisite Passing
With the score 87-65, Green checked back into the game with 11:28 remaining, a good sign for Warriors fans.
The Warriors kept the pressure on the Bulls and, after Shaun Livingston cut to the paint and slammed the ball home with two hands off a pinch-post feed from Barnes, Golden State’s lead grew to 93-75.
https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js
With 7:31 to go and the Warriors up, 95-79, Warriors interim head coach Luke Walton reinserted Curry.
But Livingston eventually got another two-handed slam on a sneak by the left baseline and Green assisted. Hoiberg called another timeout with the Warriors now up 97-79 with 7:22 to play.
https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js
The Warriors executed on two out of bounds plays, this Klay Thompson lay-up being one of them.
https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js
A trio of threes by Curry, Barnes and Klay pushed the lead to 24 before the Bulls called another timeout. The bench mob led by Leandro Barbosa checked in with 4 minutes to go and closed out the game.
Mo Speights put the icing on the cake with a three pointer on the Warriors’ last possession.
Final Score: Warriors (39-4) 125-94.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
