The Warriors can make any excuses they want, but the simple truth is that they are getting destroyed by the Chicago Bulls, trailing 66-38 at halftime. The Warriors have had very little go right, although they did cut down on the turnovers, giving up the ball only twice in the second quarter after nine TOs in the first quarter.
However, they haven’t had much else work out offensively or defensively. On the defense side they’ve been killed on give and go’s and they have been unable to account for Derrick Rose and Luol Deng throughout the game. Deng has had little trouble getting to 21 points, while Derrick Rose has 18 points and 8 assists.
The lack of David Lee is definitely showing, both in the rebound column and just generally inside. The Bulls leads the rebound stat 26-20 but it seems like they should be much further ahead. They seem to be getting a lot of second chance points, and while the Warriors are getting their share of rebounds, it definitely comes across as requiring a lot more work.
At this point the Warriors have to be looking for mostly moral victories. If they can’t make a sizable dent in the Bulls leads in the third quarter, I suspect the starters will spend most if not all of the fourth quarter on the bench, getting some much needed rest.