UNITED CENTER, CHICAGO, IL — The Golden State Warriors (38-4) were at the United Center to face the Chicago Bulls (24-16), the last game of a three-game road trip to the Midwest.
1st Quarter – Curry Starts Cooking
The Warriors missed their first five shots while the Bulls took advantage with Derrick Rose hitting five of his first six shots.
But Harrison Barnes jump-started Golden State with a steal of a bad pass from Pau Gasol, scoring in transition the other way against pretty good defense:
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Stephen Curry added a three after Andrew Bogut gave up post position on Rose…
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…Barnes hit two jump shots…
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…and Bogut leaked early in transition assisted by Draymond Green, and that brought the Warriors back to an 11-10 lead.
After Curry missed a reverse layup with no call despite apparent contact by E’Twaun Moore — with Steph politicking with the ref — Rose made that fifth jumper, but Bogut snared a rebound of Klay Thompson’s missed, perhaps ill-adivsed, three-pointer from the right corner, and found Draymond Green, who found Curry cutting in the lane for a layup, with the foul on Rose, Steph getting the call this time:
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Jimmy Butler answered with a jumper, but the rug got swept from under the Bulls after that.
Green made a cut and Curry fed him for a layup past Moore, then Butler mishandled the rock on a pick-and-roll, Barnes took it away, and Steph went upcourt, made a jab, stepped back, and swished a jumper from the left elbow:
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Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg called timeout and the Warriors were starting to build momentum, up 18-14 with 5:23 to go.
Out of the timeout, Bogut got a left side alley-oop from Curry…
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…Pau Gasol missed an inside bucket rebounded which was rebounded by Taj Gibson, but Bogut waited for and swatted Gibson’s putback.
Later, Thompson canned a triple from the right wing on a catch of Andre Iguodala’s pass and Leandro Barbosa “blurred” a layup down the left side…
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…and at the next timeout, Golden State was creeping away, 25-16, with 2:36 left.
The Warriors scored again on the “ATO” (after-timeout play), with Green slipping to the hoop for a two-hand dunk as the Bulls doubled Curry, then after both teams had empty possessions, Curry made a long two-pointer on the catch in transition from the deep left wing and turned and pointed to a kid fan wearing his jersey:
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Barbosa added a triple on Curry’s sixth assist and, with 1.4 seconds remaining, Iguodala drained a catch-and-shoot beyond the arc from the right side, getting fouled by Moore in the process, but missed the free throw.
That gave Golden State a whopping 34-18 lead heading into the second quarter.
2nd Quarter – Bench Unit Holds Strong
Along with Barnes, the bench unit was led by Shaun Livingston…
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…and Barbosa…
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…as they carried the Warriors with five, six, and five points apiece, respectively through the first seven minutes of the second quarter.
By the time Green returned with 7:27 remaining, the Warriors held a 47-30 lead.
When Curry came back, there was a scary play in which Rose lunged out and took out his legs, resulting in a three-shot foul:
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Iguodala added a left corner triple, then with signature Warriors ball movement in which it looked like they were playing pickle against the Bulls, Curry found Iguodala, who passed up a three to feed Green, who found Bogut, who found a cutting Thompson, who missed a layup, but Bogut got his paws on the board yet again, eighth overall and fourth offensive, and Curry got the ball at the top.
Steph drove and found Bogut again for a slam dunk. End of sequence, Warriors, 59-42, with a timeout and 2:29 to go.
Gasol actually tipped in the next Warriors possession with Draymond getting credit for the bucket, then Bobby Portis saved a ball with a laser attempt on his own baseline to Gasol, except Green’s forearm got in the way, Draymond took the ball upcourt, and fed a slashing Iguodala on the right side for a reverse slam to make it 63-44 just before the buzzer.
Butler missed a three at the buzzer and Golden State went into halftime in command with the 19-point lead. Rose had 21, but Curry countered with 15, including 6-for-6 from the line and 7 assists, while Barnes netted 11 points and Green tallied 6 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists.
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