In the back end of a back-to-back, the Warriors looked like they just didn’t have it them. Whereas the last few wins, the Warriors have shown their ability to grind-out wins, it is clear that they have yet to figure out how to respond to blowouts early on. The Bulls dominated from beginning to end, led by Luol Deng’s 26 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Derrick Rose continued to show the balanced improvement in his game, finishing with 22 points and 11 assists. By the end of the half, the Bulls led 66-38. Rusty Simmons’ Tweet during the third quarter seemed to capture the game entirely:
Rusty_SFChron Rusty Simmons
(3rd Q, 5:19: Bulls 82, Warriors 53) The refs aren’t even paying attention anymore.
From tipoff, the Warriors were clearly tired from last night’s win as turnovers piled up early on. For the second game in a row, the Warriors have had more turnovers than their opponents and tonight’s game the Bulls converted 31 points off the Warriors 19 turnovers. The Warriors, however, only had 16 points of the Bulls 14 turnovers. The disparity in free throw shooting was also as wide, The Bulls attempted 3 times as many free throws than the Warriors.
Monta Ellis led the Warriors with 24 points, five rebounds and five assists. Stephen Curry had 17 points, six assists and five steals. However, together, they combined for nine turnovers, nearly half the total turnovers for the team.
David Lee’s absence clearly affected the Warriors play tonight. Rusty Simmons Tweeted earlier that David Lee is heavy on the antibiotics and Marcus Thompson heard similarly saying that his arm looks "nasty." How nasty could it be that it would effect his shot?