Warriors speed right past Bulls 112-102
The Bulls got caught up in a race they couldn't finish Saturday night against Golden State.
The Warriors were as good as advertised, taking a 61-49 lead at halftime by piling up 27 fastbreak points. It was a season high for a Bulls' opponent, set in just two quarters.
The Bulls made a better effort in the third quarter but couldn't sustain any defensive success. Ultimately, too many 3-point baskets made the difference in Golden State's 112-102 victory. The Warriors won a franchise-record 12th straight game and improved their league-best record to 17-2.
Golden State forward Draymond Green scored a career-high 31 points, knocking down 7 of 13 shots from 3-point distance while the Bulls focused on his more accomplished teammates.
"The game plan should have been a little better, probably," Pau Gasol said after the game. "We wanted to get the ball out of (Stephen) Curry's hands. We did that for the most part, but we left Green wide open a lot of times."
This is about more than just leaving Green wide open, even after he started the game making his first 3 attempts from 3-point land. The Bulls (12-8) are 20 games into the season and still haven't been able to produce the typical Tom Thibodeau defense with any consistency.
In another odd occurrence, the Bulls dropped to 2-5 at home.
"It's not about home or away. That's not what it's about," Joakim Noah said. "It's about our defensive intensity, our defensive mindset. We're scoring plenty. We turn the ball over a lot. Overall, I feel defensively, we're not all on the same page."
One typical example of a defensive lapse started with Green setting a high screen for Curry. As Curry came around the screen, Derrick Rose got bumped off but kept chasing Curry, even though Taj Gibson had stepped over to block the drive to the basket.
All Curry had to do was pitch it back to the open Green, who buried an uncontested 3-pointer.
"Just not a lot of trust right now," Gibson said. "We've got a lot of new guys, a lot of young guys still trying to figure out the system. We're just not trusting right now, not having people's back on certain things.
"It's a small thing you can fix, but we've got to get it right right away."
The Bulls started out by keeping Golden State scoreless for the opening 3:13. The Warriors turned that around, though, and piled up 20 points over the next 3:12.
Gibson and the second unit led a comeback in the second quarter, with the Bulls going ahead by as much as 35-29. Golden State exploded again with a 30-10 run to open the 12-point lead at halftime.
The second half saw similar turns. The Bulls played well while winning the third quarter 31-18 but lost touch defensively down the stretch as the Warriors pulled away.
"We've got to step it up, and we will," Noah said. "Everybody's frustrated right now. We're better than we're playing. But we believe in each other.
"We've got to stay positive and just keep grinding. We've got a ways to go, and we all know it. We definitely have to change our ways because defensively we all know it's not where it needs to be.
"I feel like if we do what we're supposed to do, we'll be able to compete against any of these guys and get wins against those kinds of teams.
Jimmy Butler led the Bulls with 24 points, while Gasol piled up 22 points and 20 rebounds. Rose had 9 points on 2-of-11 shooting. Back from six games off with a sprained ankle, Gibson scored 12 points.
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