Warriors win with explosive 3rd quarter
CHICAGO — No matter how ugly they play, the Warriors carve out a time where they can usually camouflage all of their past mistakes.
That moment this season has usually happened in the third quarter, where the Warriors walk back onto the court with a more talented roster, more focused mindset and more half-time adjustments. As a result: the Warriors put together a show that led to 119-112 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Monday.
Fortunately for the Warriors (36-10), that secured a 14th consecutive road victory to match the franchise’s longest-road winning streak that they also set in the 201516 season. The Warriors did so as Klay Thompson (season-high 38 points on 12-of22 shooting) and Stephen
Curry (30 points on 10-of-18 shooting) scored at least 30 points in the same game for the 11th time in their NBA careers, while Kevin Durant added 19 points albeit on a 6of-15 clip. Unfortunately for the Warriors, their improved second-half performance could not erase the most notable thing that happened in the first half.
Only 24 seconds into the game, Bell sprained his left ankle after landing awkwardly on it as he unsuccessfully defended Chicago center Robin Lopez as he
threw down a one-handed dunk.
Bell was then taken to the locker room in a wheel chair. Though X-rays came out negative, the Warriors diagnosed Bell with a sprained left ankle and would not return to the game. Bell is scheduled to receive an MRI sometime on Thursday.
Afterwards, the Warriors labored without key absences to forward Draymond Green (sore right shoulder) and Andre Iguodala (left calf contusion).
The Bulls (17-28) held a 6663 halftime lead over the Warriors by playing like the Warriors. Chicago shot 25of-54
from the field (46.3), posted 18 points in the paint and converted on 16 fastbreak points. Then, the third quarter started and everything turned.
The Warriors reduced the Bulls’ lead to 77-72 after going on a 14-6 run through the 8:02 run, prompting Chicago to call timeout. The Warriors then expanded the lead to 85-72 after cementing an 80 run through the 5:15 mark, resulting in another Bulls timeout. The Bulls went through a nearly sevenminute stretch without making a field goal.
The Warriors nursed a 9578 lead entering the fourth quarter after outscoring the
Bulls in the third period, 3212. Both Thompson and Curry scored 11 points. Chicago shot only 6-of-24 from the field (25 percent). And the Warriors outrebounded the Bulls, 17-13.
The Warriors could not relax just yet. It appeared that would be the case after Thompson made consecutive 3-pointers to stretch the Warriors’ lead to 107-90 with 7:40 left in the game. But then the Warriors cut the lead to 112-107 lead with 2:52 remaining after completing a 17-5 run. Nonetheless, the Warriors had enough of a cushion stemmed from their strong third-quarter performance.