NBA: Dubs bounce back in Chicago
Warriors smack the Bulls on the second half of a back-to-back after getting pummeled by Milwaukee.
Let’s face it. Thursday night’s game against the Bucks was ugly. And heading into Chicago to face the East-leading Bulls without Klay, Draymond, or Gary Payton seemed like quite the challenge.
And then it wasn’t.
The Bulls are good—they have the best record in the East at 27-13 and are ahead of the Nets, Bucks, and any other fringe contenders in the standings. They’re also staying competitive despite the fact that a whole lot of important players have missed significant time.
Chicago is now 10-3 over their last 13 games, with their only losses coming to Dallas, Brooklyn, and Golden State. The Bulls are powered by their offense—they are a remarkable 19-2 when they score more than 110 points. They are functionally tied with the ridiculously productive Hawks and Hornets for the second best offense in the league behind the Jazz, but they’ve also been able to put out a serviceable defense, unlike Atlanta and Charlotte which sit at 28th and 27th in the league. Chicago had been scoring a ridiculous 120.5 points per 100 possessions over the 12 game stretch heading into Friday’s matchup, which would be the best offense in the league by a huge margin.
Both fifth-year Bull Zach LaVine and offseason arrival DeMar DeRozan have been huge for Chicago, and they lead the team in games played.
LaVine has continued to play like an All-Star in his age 26 season. He’s averaging 25.6 points per game while shooting 41.2% on threes and a career-best 70.2% at the rim. He’s also initiating the offense, assisting on 21% of Bulls buckets while he’s on the floor. Unfortunately for Chicago, he left Friday’s game early with a minor knee injury, and is set to get an MRI today.
DeRozan, meanwhile, turned 32 in August and came to Chicago after three seasons in San Antonio and nine in Toronto. And he’s playing some of the best basketball of his life, finally on a truly competitive team for the first time in years. He’s averaging 26 points on a career-best 35.2% from deep and a respectable 50.8% on twos. A whole lot of his shots have come from midrange, taking more than half of his shots between ten feet and the three-point line. The four time All-Star’s efficiency has actually been steadily improving over the last five seasons, and although he’s never been a reliable three point shooter up to this point, he’s somehow found a way to knock them down over the first half of the season.
Lonzo Ball has also played in all but five of Chicago’s games, serving as an excellent disruptor on defense and a useful shooter and playmaker on offense. He’s making a career-best 42% of his threes, a number he’s been improving each year since he entered the league. He looks like a solid fit as a third guy alongside DeRozan and LaVine, but it was clear on Friday night that he would benefit from getting guard Alex Caruso back on the floor to help put together some sort of defense.
After a terrible shooting night in Milwaukee, the Warriors opened the game with threes from Otto Porter Jr., Andrew Wiggins, and Jordan Poole. Chicago’s first scoring was done by Lonzo, but each time he hit a shot the Warriors were able to respond with one of their own.
At the end of the first quarter, the Warriors were up 37-28, and they were playing excellently. Wiggins was knocking down nearly all of his shots, and Poole was playing great in his first start since Klay’s return. Kevon Looney had three offensive boards in the first quarter, and Porter had three assists and two steals. As a team they had 11 assists on 13 made baskets.
Then, in the second quarter they blew it open and never looked back. They outscored Chicago 41-19 to take a 78-47 lead at halftime, a 31 point lead after being down by 39 at halftime against Milwaukee on Thursday night. As a team they had just two turnovers in the half, and were 11-24 on threes and had 22 assists. Otto Porter had five steals and Andre Iguodala had four of his own all in the first half, and Looney had five offensive rebounds and 10 overall.
After halftime, they pushed the lead to 97-61 with five minutes to go in the third. At the end of three quarters, they were up 112-72, with 32 assists overall and 15-33 shooting from deep.
In the end, the Warriors were led in scoring by rookie Jonathan Kuminga, who had 25 points, three rebounds, three assists, three blocks, and a steal while shooting 10-12 from the floor. He was energetic and took advantage of every opportunity he was given, finishing with a career-best 83% shooting on significant volume, plus career highs in blocks and assists and just one point shy of his personal best. He had 12 points in the first half on 5-6 shooting, and then 13 points again on 5-6 shooting plus all three of his blocks in the second half.
Jordan Poole, in just his second start since December 14th, was second on the team with 22 points and five assists. After shooting barely over 20% in the previous five games, JP was 5-9 from deep and looked much more like the guy who averaged 18 points in 28 starts to open the season. It’s going to take some time for him to adjust to a sixth man role, so it’s probably a good thing that he’ll still get a chance to log some starts while Klay is ramping back up to full strength.
Andrew Wiggins, who I will never stop praising, was just as efficient as Kuminga, with 21 points on 8-11 shooting. He’s shooting 43.5% from deep over the nine games since returning from covid protocols, and he had a season-high six assists and zero turnovers. He also got to play his eighth fewest minutes all year, thanks to his role blowing out the Bulls over the first three quarters. He only scored once in the third, but he had two rebounds and three assists as the rest of the team took on the scoring load that he had been bearing with his 20 points in the first half.
Kevon Looney, who has been incredibly solid all year, had six offensive rebounds and 12 total, plus four assists, and 10 points. It was his sixth game with five or more offensive boards, something that he’s been better and better at this year despite the fact that he’s only 6’9” at center.
Otto Porter had fantastically well-rounded game, with nine points, seven rebounds, six assists, and a season-high five steals in just under 20 minutes of action. He made his jumpers and his layups, and grabbed two offensive rebounds to boot. Over the last 10 games he’s shooting 41.2% from deep, including games against Phoenix and Utah where he scored 19 and 20 points each.
Steph Curry had an imperfect start to the game, but he finished with 19 points on 7-15 shooting, plus two rebounds, two assists, and a steal. He’s definitely still slumping by his MVP-level standards, but his 4-7 shooting from deep over the second and third quarters was a great sign, and he ended up scoring 17 of his 19 points in those two periods after starting 0-3 from deep in the first.
Nemanja Bjelica, who has been taking infuriating threes several feet beyond the arc early in the shot clock, finished with 11 rebounds and a season-high seven assists. It was just the second time all season that he’s had double-digit rebounds, and overall it was a much more satisfying performance than we’ve seen from him after a great start to the season.
Golden State finished with just seven turnovers, their second lowest total on the season (and five of them game in the fourth quarter, which was basically all garbage time). They shot 45% as a team from deep, and they are 20-1 when they shoot better than 35% on threes. They tied their season high with 39 assists, and they set season highs for both shooting percentage and field goals made. They are 16-1 when they have 30 or more assists in a game, it just turns out that it requires making their shots. Given that knowledge, it’s not that surprising that the Warriors entered Friday’s matchup on a 1-4 streak since they never had more than 25 assists and shot below 45% in all five games.
On Sunday, the Warriors visit the Timberwolves in Minnesota, who have had a few nice win streaks this year but also a few brutal losing streaks as well, leaving them just under .500 on the season.
Over their last 10 games, Minnesota is 5-5 including a three-game losing streak and a four-game win streak. In their wins on the season they have shot 47% overall, while they’ve made just 41% of their attempts in their losses. They have the 20th ranked offense in the league, but the 10th best defense, roughly comparable to some more serious teams like Milwaukee, Memphis, Utah, and Brooklyn.
Karl-Anthony Towns is having one of his best seasons so far, averaging 24.6 points and 9.3 rebounds while shooting 42% from deep and 52% overall. Minnesota is 2-5 when he’s missed time, and they’re one of the most potent offenses in the league when he’s on the floor. They outscore their opponents by 4.6 points per 100 possessions when he’s on the floor, and they get smacked by almost 6 points per 100 possessions when he’s on the bench.
Over the last 10 games, the Timberwolves have had an offensive rating comparable to the number-two ranked Hawks. If the Warriors can exert their defensive might as they have against all of the middle of the pack teams they’ve faced lately, it will just be a question of offensive production that determines their ability to put Minnesota away. They’re still 12-8 in their last 20 games, but Golden State needs to start stringing together some wins if they want to stay within striking distance of the first place Suns as they push towards the All-Star break.
Golden State (31-11) plays Minnesota (20-22) at 5:00 pm PT on Sunday night. Look out for Andrew Wiggins.