Bulls win in Golden State for first time since 2015 |
SAN FRANCISCO — You can't fault the front office for wanting to keep this Chicago Bulls (31-32) team together. Sure, for the most part, they have underperformed, but that is to be expected when you have the number of injuries this team has suffered throughout the year. Injuries or not, this team continues to battle and show fight, which could be one of the main reasons why Arturas Karnisovas believes in running it back again.
That fight was on display at the Chase Center in Golden State last night as the Bulls were looking for their first win against the Golden State Warriors (33-29) in ten years. It's hard enough for the Bulls to win against Golden State away from home, but trying to do that on the second night of a back-to-back is all the more challenging. Fortunately for the Bulls, the Warriors were also playing the second game of a back-to-back, so that advantage was no longer in play. As expected, the stars came out to play, as Demar DeRozan, Klay Thompson, and Steph Curry were ready to play in front of the fans. Some of those guys had off nights, but when it mattered the most, the stars took over. Aided by a missed layup in the final seconds, DeRozan was Mr. Clutch again in the fourth as his and-1 gave the Bulls the lead, and Chicago prevailed 125-122 to secure a winning road trip. That was the mission going into this trip, and many felt they needed more confidence to do so. To see it come full circle has to give the fans a bit more confidence in this group. Over the past month, DeRozan has started to look like the player the Bulls needed him to be, but it has been the past week where he has come up huge. For whatever reason, DeRozan has gotten off to slow starts before heating up in the second half, especially in the fourth. That was the case again Thursday as DeRozan came away with several massive buckets again to lead the Bulls with 33 points and added eight rebounds. He wasn't alone in having a great game; Nikola Vucevic picked the perfect time to have his best game in over a month. Sure, Vooch has been a double-double machine most of the year, but his scoring numbers have been inconsistent since the start of February. You have seen those numbers start to creep back up since Torrey Craig got hurt, and with 33 points and 11 rebounds, he may be on the verge of a nice finishing kick. The offense went through those two, but let's not forget about Coby White, who seems to be coming out of a prolonged shooting slump. Although he wasn't as efficient as last night, White still shot close to 50% while knocking down multiple triples. He chipped in with 20 points and seven assists to give the Bulls three players who scored close to 80 points. Any time you get that kind of production, you'll be in great shape, but the Bulls had some others help lead this team to victory. Ayo Dosunmu shook off a horrendous night against Utah with 14 points, but the play of Jevon Carter off the bench proved pivotal. Going through the worst season of his career, Carter has stayed the course, and with Alex Caruso only having five points, Carter picked up 10 off the bench to give the Bulls a much-needed lift at times. You also had Onuralp Bitim add six as he continues to give this team more minutes than expected. Although the Warriors scored 122 points, the Bulls' defense did a great job of not getting beat by shooters, holding Curry to 15 points. A lot of that was on him, as he went just 5-18 from the field, but the Bulls weren't going to make things easy for him. That couldn't be said about Klay Thompson, however, as he loves to face this team. Even with his days as a starter numbered and he more of a bench guy right now, whenever he faces the Bulls, he looks like prime Thompson. He led the Warriors with 25 points in 28 minutes while connecting on five triples. That just goes to show you the margin of error in this game, as a normal night from Curry would have given the Warriors a double-digit win instead of this loss. When it comes to the Golden State starters, Jonathan Kuminga led the way with 19 points and 10 boards. He has been exceptional this season and continues to show that he can be a piece to build around. Draymond Green also had a massive night, finishing with a triple-double, scoring 11 points, hauling down 12 boards, and dishing out 10 assists. When he plays like that, it shows you why this team refuses to part ways with him, as he does many things right. Moses Moody added 10 points off the bench, with Brandin Podziemski adding 11 points, but it's Podziemski who will shoulder a ton of the blame as his missed layup late ultimately sealed the Bulls win. Like Thompson, Chris Paul has also been relegated to a bench role, and with 15 points, the Warriors can say they have two of the better scorers coming off the bench. Chicago will look to close out their road trip with a perfect 4-0 mark when they head to Los Angeles to play the Clippers on Saturday. Win or lose, this has been a great trip, and it should give this team the confidence it needs in the season's final month.
