Stephen Curry Drops 19 as Warriors Snap out of Funk with 42-Point Rout of Bulls

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The Golden State Warriors bounced back from a 118-99 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in what was potentially an NBA Finals preview on Thursday with a 138-96 win over the Chicago Bulls on Friday at the United Center. They improved to 31-11 with the win, while the Bulls dropped to 27-13. 

Friday’s win was the team’s first since a 96-82 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Jan. 9. Before falling to the Bucks, the Warriors were upset by the Memphis Grizzlies 116-108 on Tuesday. 

It was an impressive win for the Dubs, who have been in a shooting slump as of late. In addition, the team was without two of its best players in Klay Thompson (rest) and Draymond Green (calf) in addition to James Wiseman, who has yet to make his season debut due to injury. 

Notable Stats

Stephen Curry, PG, GSW: 19 PTS, 2 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL

DeMar DeRozan, SF, CHI: 17 PTS, 2 REB, 7 AST, 1 STL

Andrew Wiggins, SF, GSW: 21 PTS, 4 REB, 6 AST

Nikola Vucevic, C, CHI: 19 PTS, 14 REB, 5 AST, 3 BLK

Jordan Poole, SG, GSW: 22 PTS, 1 REB, 5 AST

Lonzo Ball, PG, CHI: 15 PTS, 2 REB, 3 AST

Warriors Snap Out of Funk with Complete Performance

Golden State was not going to lose three games in a row, especially after being embarrassed by the Bucks on Thursday night, and the team tallied the most points it has all season in Friday’s game against Chicago. 

The Dubs put together their most complete performance in more than a week, snapping out of a slump that saw them hit the lowest of lows against Milwaukee as they shot just 33-of-95 (34.7 percent) from the field and 16-of-48 (33.3 percent) from deep.

The Warriors shot 55.9 percent from the floor against Chicago and 43.9 percent from deep, which is much closer to their season averages of 46.5 percent from the field and 36.2 percent from beyond the arc. 

Before Thursday’s game against Milwaukee, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr addressed the team’s scoring issues, saying his squad needed to simplify things and get more people open for easy buckets.

While they didn’t do that against the Bucks, they certainly did on Friday night. 

The scoring effectiveness from up and down the lineup highlighted one of the team’s most complete performances since Green was ruled out with a calf injury. Green’s absence has been glaring, especially on the defensive side, but the Warriors proved on Friday night that they can win without him if they hit their shots and protect the rim. 

Golden State allowed more than 100 points in each of their last two games. The team limited Chicago to just 96 points on Friday in one of its better defensive games of late. 

Moving forward, Golden State’s focus should be on putting together more complete performances, spreading the floor and protecting the rim like they did on Friday night. Because while Green is expected to return soon, there’s no telling when or if he might go down again, and the Dubs will need to be better prepared for that situation. 

LaVine’s Injury Compounds Second Straight Loss

LaVine exited Friday’s game early in the first quarter after sustaining a left knee injury and did not return. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported “there’s initial confidence” that the superstar avoided a serious injury, but he will undergo an MRI on Saturday to confirm the severity of the injury. 

LaVine appeared to suffer the injury after grabbing an offensive rebound with just under nine minutes remaining in the first quarter. On the next play, he intentionally fouled Curry before taking himself out of the game. 

LaVine is one of Chicago’s best players, and the team completely fell apart without him. The Bulls kept things tight in the first quarter until the 26-year-old exited, and they ended up going into halftime down 78-47.

LaVine, who is in his fifth season with the Bulls, has combined with DeRozan, who is in his first season in Chicago, to form one of the best one-two punches in the NBA. The duo entered Friday’s game as the only teammates in the league to both be averaging more than 25 points per game. 

DeRozan was averaging 26 points entering Friday’s contest, in addition to 5.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists. 

Furthering highlighting LaVine’s importance is the face he is on pace to earn his second straight All-Star selection. He jumped up to third in voting for guard’s in the Eastern Conference in the latest round of voting, joining DeRozan, who is first.