Beating the Warriors at full strength is a formidable task given that they haven’t dropped consecutive regular-season games since April 2015.
Doing so in shorthanded fashion is even more challenging.
The Bulls were without Jimmy Butler for a third straight game and lost Dwyane Wade to an illness and the ensuing 48 minutes played out in predictable fashion. The Warriors never trailed in their 123-92 victory.
Klay Thompson celebrated his 27th birthday with six 3-pointers en route to his 28 points. Kevin Durant added 22 as all five Warriors starters reached double figures. They’ve now gone 138 consecutive regular-season games without consecutive losses, putting last Friday’s collapse in Sacramento behind them in convincing fashion.
“Obviously it’s tough and we made it even tougher on ourselves in that first quarter by turning the ball over,” coach Fred Hoiberg said.
Photos from the game on Feb. 8, 2017, in Oakland, Calif.
The Bulls committed six first-quarter turnovers and also lost substitute starter Paul Zipser to a left ankle injury in the first half. Zipser said afterward that the injury isn’t serious and he exited ORACLE Arena walking without a limp.
The Bulls’ league-worst 3-point shooting looked afflicted, though. They shot just 4-for-24 from 3-point range and were outscored 45-12 from beyond the arc.
“It’s tough to win those games,” Hoiberg said.
Denzel Valentine started the second half for Zipser. He missed nine of 11 shots. Michael Carter-Williams missed eight of nine attempts. And Doug McDermott managed just four points and three fouls in 17 minutes.
“Confidence is always a concern when you’re shooting and struggling,” Hoiberg said.
Robin Lopez’s 17 points and 10 rebounds led the Bulls. Rajon Rondo added 12 points, eight assists and six rebounds.
“This was a tough one, especially missing a lot of guys,” Taj Gibson said. “We just have to put it behind us.”
In a surprise, Cristiano Felicio, whom the Bulls originally said would miss a week with a lower right leg strain, returned two days ahead of schedule and logged six points and four rebounds.
3-point shooting most glaring difference of many between Warriors and Bulls K.C. Johnson
Fred Hoiberg meant no disrespect to the defending NBA champion Cavaliers when he pondered what the Bulls faced without Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade Wednesday night in an eventual 123-92 loss to the Warriors at ORACLE Arena.
“When they got (Kevin) Durant in the offseason, obviously they became the…
Fred Hoiberg meant no disrespect to the defending NBA champion Cavaliers when he pondered what the Bulls faced without Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade Wednesday night in an eventual 123-92 loss to the Warriors at ORACLE Arena.
“When they got (Kevin) Durant in the offseason, obviously they became the…
(K.C. Johnson)
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
