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 Golden State was disappointed with its performance in a loss at
Detroit to begin the trip on Saturday, during which it shot a
season-low 36 percent from the field. The Warriors picked things up
on the offensive end and made a statement with a 132-98 thrashing of
the Cleveland Cavaliers in an NBA Finals rematch on Monday. The
Bulls are adjusting to life without Joakim Noah (shoulder), and Pau
Gasol tried to pick up the slack in the middle all by himself with
31 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks in a 111-101 win at Detroit
on Monday. Chicago shot 52.4 percent from the floor against that
same Pistons defense that proved to be so much trouble for Golden
State on Saturday.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN, CSN Bay Area (Golden State), CSN Chicago
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (38-4): Golden State carried a 70-44 lead into
the half at Cleveland and kept pulling away in the third quarter as
Stephen Curry led the way with 35 points on 12-of-18 shooting.
That’s who we know we can be,” Warriors interim head coach Luke
Walton told reporters. “As a coaching staff, we are always trying to
get our players to play at that level, and they were absolutely
phenomenal. … We can’t really ask to play much better than that.”
The Warriors will have to keep up that level of play as they close
out the three-game trip against Chicago and head home to host
Indiana, San Antonio and Dallas.
ABOUT THE BULLS (24-16): Noah had been demoted to a reserve role and
fought through various injuries before having his season likely come
to an end over the weekend, but the players are still missing him as
a leader. “We need him for sure, but we’re professionals,” guard
Derrick Rose told reporters. “We know that once someone goes out,
someone else has to step in and do their job. And we believe in
everybody on this team, and we’re going to see how far this can go.”
Rose is one of those players that needs to step up, and his 20
points on Monday marked the second time this month that he reached
that plateau.
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BUZZER BEATERS
1. Curry is 22-of-43 from 3-point range in the last three games and
drained at least four 3-pointers in each of the last nine contests.
2. Bulls G Jimmy Butler joined Curry and fellow Warriors Draymond
Green, Andre Iguodala, Harrison Barnes and Klay Thompson as
finalists for Team USA.
3. Golden State earned a 106-94 home win over Chicago on Nov. 20 and
has taken two of the last three in the series.
PREDICTION: Warriors 111, Bulls 100
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