Bulls vs. Warriors: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2015 Regular Season
Draymond Green and Kirk Hinrich proved to be unlikely heroes in regulation. But in overtime, it was the stars' turn to take over.
Derrick Rose did just that, knocking down a game-winning jumper with seven seconds remaining in the extra session to give the Chicago Bulls a 113-111 victory over the Golden State Warriors in a potential NBA Finals preview Tuesday night.
Klay Thompson missed a potential game-tying bucket as time expired to give the Warriors their seventh loss of the season. Poor execution was to blame for Golden State following Rose's shot, as seconds earlier, Andre Iguodala chose to pump-fake rather than attempt a layup out of a beautifully drawn set play.
Rose finished with 30 points in a game that for him was at times encouraging and at others a house of horrors. The former MVP's scoring came on 33 shot attempts (tying a career high), and he set another career worst with 11 turnovers. But, as K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune noted, Rose played 40-plus minutes for the first time in nearly three calendar years:
"It's fun competing, man," Rose told reporters coming into the game. "It's fun playing basketball against great players. If anything, it's a great challenge for me. This is my first year back, have played 40-some games. I'm getting better every game. It's a great challenge." Pro Basketball Talk's Kurt Helin provided his assessment of Rose's performance:
In a game separated by razor-thin margins throughout—neither team had a double-digit advantage for the first three quarters—Golden State appeared to be taking control early in the fourth. A 10-2 run to start the frame gave the Warriors an 11-point advantage with just under nine minutes remaining, but Chicago came roaring back with a run of its own.
Nikola Mirotic scored six of 10 points during a spirited comeback to bring the Bulls within one basket, and the teams traded blows down the stretch from there. A six-point Golden State run here gave way to a six-point Bulls run there, and soon, just a single possession separated them. With two teams of this caliber, one would expect some clutch shots to decide the contest.
Few would have guessed the pair responsible for forcing overtime.
First, it was Hinrich, catching a Rose assist and knocking down an open 26-footer to give the Bulls a 107-105 lead with 15 seconds remaining. A frustrating Golden State possession that ended with an ill-advised Iguodala triple nearly cost it the game earlier, but Green fought for two offensive rebounds and found success on his second attempt to send it to the extra session.
The once-plentiful scoring well dried up for both teams in overtime. Chicago won, despite scoring a mere six points in five minutes, nearly posting as many turnovers (two) as made shots (three). Stephen Curry, who finished with 21 points and nine assists, was the only Warrior to score in the extra frame as they went 2-of-11 from the field.
Marcus Thompson of the Bay Areas News Group added his thoughts on what he called "Curry talk":
It was a strange night overall for the Golden State offense, which came out of the gate on fire with a 35-point first quarter but quickly fizzled. The Warriors did not make a shot from beyond the arc after halftime, missing all 13 of their attempts.
Curry's 21 points came on a 9-of-23 night from the field (2-of-9 from three-point range). Thompson, who went off for 15 points in the first quarter and looked again like he was ready to go all NBA Jam, matched that total for the remainder of the game. He buried 13-of-27 shot attempts but was 7-of-19 in the final three quarters and overtime.
Marcus Thompson highlighted Klay's critical miss on an "easy, wide-open runner":
David Lee (24 points, nine rebounds, six assists) and Harrison Barnes (12 points, five rebounds) were the only two Golden State players who hit 50 percent of their shots among guys who played a meaningful role.
The Warriors were without center Andrew Bogut, who did not play because of the flu, per Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports. In his place, Marreese Speights scored 10 points and had eight rebounds, shooting 14 times in 21 minutes.
Flu-like symptoms also caused the Bulls to make do in the absence of leading scorer Jimmy Butler, leaving the entirety of the shot-creation up to Rose at times.
Pau Gasol turned in an all-around brilliant offensive performance, scoring 18 points, grabbing 16 rebounds and dishing a team-high eight assists. Gasol and Joakim Noah (18 points, 15 rebounds, six assists) were Chicago's primary facilitators, doing most of their work from the high post. Rose was consistently aggressive in finding his shot but had only one assist. Basketball Insiders' Alex Kennedy shared Gasol's stats:
The Bulls shot 42.9 percent from the field and struggled from distance, owing their victory to a 61-48 advantage on the boards and a 23-12 free-throw disparity. The win is their third over a Western Conference power in less than a week, having toppled San Antonio and Dallas on a back-to-back on Thursday and Friday, respectively.
It's been perhaps the promising sign Chicago has been looking for. In recent days, players (and other coaches) have run to the aid of Tom Thibodeau, who'd become increasingly embattled as the Bulls struggled to reach their next gear.
With Rose feeling comfortable enough to overexert himself and the Gasol-Noah front line figuring out a way to complement each other, the Bulls looked at times like the outfit most expected—even with Butler sidelined.
It was far from a perfect game for either side. Thibodeau and Co. can't ever expect the Splash Brothers to turn glacial like that again. No team can. But an opportunistic win over the NBA's best team might just be the springboard these Bulls need to go ascending into the All-Star break.
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