The Golden State Warriors were at the United Center tonight to face the Chicago Bulls and try for a Warriors franchise-record twelfth straight win. David Lee was out for the Dubs and Doug McDermott was injured for the Bulls.
Steph warming up dribbling off foot: http://instagram.com/p/wSRaNakGi9/
1ST QUARTER: Championship-Caliber Defense
Golden State had yet to face adversity, especially on the road, and the Bulls were their best challenge so far. The starters rose up to the challenge, playing perhaps their best team defense all season — in a season marked by stellar defense throughout.
Draymond Green, Andrew Bogut and — later when he checked in for Harrison Barnes — Andre Iguodala were all over the place, getting deflections and blocked shots and leading early transition for the Dubs.
The game started out a little shaky for the Warriors, but it was their defense that gave them momentum. It was obvious that Tom Thibodeau‘s strategy was to dare Green to beat the Bulls playing tight defense all the way out on the perimeter on everyone not named Green or Bogut, and Green was up to the challenge, although he missed his first wide-open three-point attempt. Barnes also missed a contested three. The Bulls collapsed and let Green attack the paint. On one play, he passed over to Bogut, who subsequently turned the ball over. Early on, Thibodeau’s strategy was working.
But the Warriors were playing even better defense than that. On a tremendous close-out by Stephen Curry, Derrick Rose was forced into a bad shot from beyond the arc up top, not hitting rim, and resulting in a shotclock violation.
Barnes forced Mike Dunleavy, Jr. into a bad jumper, then on another sequence, helped out on a big man inside, then recovered to block a jumper. Green got the loose ball, turned the ball over trying to outlet to a streaking Barnes, but then got a deflection and Klay Thompson capitalized with a runner, good.
Then the Warriors got hot.
Curry started the momentum with a splash from the left arc, then Green made an open trey. Rose fouled Curry on another three-point attempt and the Warriors had an early 13-6 lead with 6:58 to go.
Bogut then got a steal and went the length of the floor, ending with a finger roll after a fake pass, avoiding the charge, although there was a lot of contact near the rim.
Green got a three, then a slam after Bogut stole the ball and fed a streaking Curry with a bounce pass, who found Green.
Just like that, it was 20-8, Warriors, with 5:29 to go. Thibodeau had no choice but to call timeout, although he probably would’ve been better-served to call timeout earlier than that.
Thompson made a beautiful layup absorbing contact at the rim, but no and-one call, and Green got another two deflections, one on Joakim Noah‘s lob attempt to Pau Gasol and the other on a block of Dunleavy’s three-point try.
It was a 20-4 run by the Dubs, with Green the well-deserved beneficiary of 11 of those points.
Curry and Green would both play the entire first quarter, but Taj Gibson tipped the scales in favor of the Bulls a bit upon his entry and Marreese Speights made a few mental mistakes as well.
After another brilliant defensive sequence in which Green blocked Gibson, despite Gibson issuing a pump fake, Iguodala went coast-to-coast on the ensuing rebound for a reverse layup which made it 26-17.
A Jimmy Butler drive on Iguodala that resulted in two free throws cut the Bulls’ deficit at the end of one quarter to 28-22.
2ND QUARTER: Starters Rescue Second Unit
With Curry and Green playing the entire first quarter, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr had Shaun Livingston and Speights start the second frame, and both missed early shots, while Butler, Gibson, Aaron Brooks (on a three-pointer), and Gibson again with a putback, got the Bulls back in the game, including a technical by Kerr complaining about a non-call.
But an Iguodala steal that led to an assist of a Barnes three-pointer in transition gave the momentum back to the Warriors, now down 32-35 with 8:23 to go in the half.
After a Speights touchdown pass to Thompson — something we’re seeing more and more from Mo — Bogut checked back into the game with 7:27 to go, down 34-36, and the Warriors began to run downhill again.
Curry drew a few defenders and found Barnes open for a trey from the right corner. Then Thompson got into the action, getting his own touchdown pass, two-handed however, to Green to give the Warriors the lead, 47-41, with 3:32 to go.
Thompson followed that up with a baseline pull up, a transition three-pointer assisted by Curry after a made Bulls basket, and a tap-out of a Gasol one-handed palm ball trying to keep the ball away from his defender, Bogut. Green drilled another three-pointer after that heady defense by Klay, and the Warriors were up 57-43 with 1:11 to go. 27 of those points were on fastbreaks.
Butler got a phantom call on Thompson on a fake elbow jumper, but Thompson got him back with a jump-stop after that. Iguodala added a finger roll with just seconds to play, but Noah got his own layup banker as Bogut slacked off him, running into Green in the process.
Noah’s bucket trimmed the Warriors’ lead to 61-49 at the half. Thompson led the Warriors with 17 points and Green added 16 points and 2 blocks. Bogut had 12 rebounds and Curry 5 assists.
We will be posting the 2nd half report after the game ends.
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