warriors vs bulls recap (Photo: LetsGoWarriors.com Instagram account)
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Despite not having their starting frontline of Andrew Bogut and David Lee, behind Stephen Curry‘s 34 points and 9 assists, the Golden State Warriors overcame another slow first quarter to beat the Chicago Bulls convincingly, 102-87.
Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle:
Dealing with a tailspin of five losses in their past seven home games, and having to take the court without their two starting big men, Andrew Bogut and David Lee, the Warriors quickly found themselves in a 23-8 hole to Chicago.
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But then, the Warriors offered a stark reminder of what makes them one of the league’s most-watched teams. They can shoot their way back into any game, and they often play at their highest levels after doubters start making the most noise.
Dave Del Grande of The SportsXchange/PressDemocrat:
With new NBA commissioner Adam Silver in attendance, the Warriors (30-20) won for the third time in four games even though they faced the Bulls without center Andrew Bogut (sore shoulder) and power forward David Lee (sore shoulder and hip).
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Golden State reached the 50-game mark with 30 wins, matching the record it compiled at the same point last season en route to the sixth seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
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Curry scored 16 of his 34 points in the second quarter, rallying the Warriors to a lead they relinquished only briefly.
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Reserve forward Harrison Barnes hit two 3-pointers and Curry buried his third 3 of the night over an 82-second span of the fourth quarter, allowing the Warriors to pull away after Chicago closed to within 78-74.
Monte Poole of CSN Bay Area:
Stephen Curry scored 34 points to lead four Warriors in double figures. Klay Thompson added 21, while Jordan Crawford and Harrison Barnes each came off the bench to put in 11 in Mark Jackson’s 100th career coaching win.
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The Bulls opened the game in a spring, shooting 60 percent and taking a 29-16 first-quarter lead. The Warriors (30-20) thereafter cranked up the defense, holding Chicago (24-25) to 35 percent shooting over the final three quarters.
Antonio Gonzalez of the Associated Press:
The Bulls built leads of 29-16 after the first quarter and 34-18 early in the second behind a swarming defensive effort that swallowed up Golden State’s prolific shooters.
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But Chicago’s inconsistent offense, prone to long scoring droughts without Derrick Rose, repeatedly stalled and allowed the Warriors to get out in transition. Curry captured the momentum by scoring 16 points in the second quarter, including a 3-pointer that gave Golden State a 50-46 halftime lead and had him roaring with the announced sellout crowd of 19,596.
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Curry, who will start for the Western Conference in his first All-Star game later this month, also put the Warriors up 76-66 late in the third quarter on a nifty reverse layup. He hit another from beyond the arc midway during a run in the fourth quarter that put the Warriors up 14 with fewer than 5 minutes to play.
Sarah Todd of SFBay.ca:
It wasn’t just the Splash Brothers knocking down shots and the Warriors clamping down on defense — though there was plenty of that.
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Jermaine O’Neal diving for loose balls, Draymond Green saving the rock from going out of bounds, Jordan Crawford creating space, ball movement and all-around effort were finally on display at Oracle.
Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group:
“I feel like we are underachieving right now, but I feel we can only control what’s ahead of us,” Curry said.
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The road ahead looked just a bit brighter for the Warriors, who saw Curry score 34 points to help rally them after trailing Chicago by as many as 16 points. A loss would have sent them into a tie for eighth place in the Western Conference, but Curry combined with Klay Thompson (22 points) to jump-start the offense.
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The victory at Oracle Arena came after the Warriors entered the contest without the services of injured starting big men Andrew Bogut (sore shoulder) and David Lee (sprained shoulder, strained hip) and the team having dropped five of its previous seven home games.
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Curry, who had the hot hand while also dishing out nine assists, said the team needed to have some fun after having his wife ask after recent game if things were fine after seeing the team’s body language.
Andy Liu of Golden State Of Mind:
Mark Jackson admitted that he challenged Stephen Curry to become more aggressive. “I thought he was over-passing. My goal wasn’t to make him the league leader in assists,” Jackson reiterated on Curry’s outburst in scoring, putting him back on pace to reach and/or exceed the lofty heights he achieved last season.
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Fortunately for the rest of the nation that wasn’t pushing panic buttons or penning 1,000+ words on the ills and commiserating over the travails of Curry’s “plunging” three-point percentage (including myself), we had to be reminded once again that this type of shooting is as rare a talent as any. A player shooting under 40 percent from 3 and people are suddenly worried about his fatigue, mindset, and workload? To the best goes the most hallowed criticism, and simultaneously, compliments.
Steve Berman of Bay Area Sports Guy:
The Warriors have faced a crisis of sorts in recent weeks. That’s mostly because they haven’t met preseason expectations at any point, save for their 10-game win streak back in late-December/early-January. They had reasons to feel like things would continue on the same downward plane early on against Chicago, with Andrew Bogut and David Lee sitting out due to shoulder soreness and the Bulls taking a 34-18 second quarter lead.
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“For us, we’ve got to get back to having fun, man. And enjoy small victories. We put so much pressure on ourselves and so much stress when you’re not performing the way you want to. We’re not going to be frontrunners, but you’ve got to enjoy the moment and have fun,” Curry said.
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