They led by 10 points.
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Golden State equaled the 1957-1958 Celtics as the only defending champions to win their initial 14 games.
The Warriors are still most of the season away from matching the Chicago Bulls’ 10-loss season that has had a special place in basketball history for two decades, but that hasn’t stopped players from that Chicago team from preemptively answering the question: Which team is better?
Curry poured in 40 points to lead the charge and hit six 3-pointers.
In particular, Griffin’s struggles in the fourth quarter, coupled with Jordan’s inability to impose his will on the game this season have critics claiming that the squad does not have enough talent to challenge the upper-echelon of the western conference. They don’t play again until Tuesday at Portland, … “They have the upper hand”.
Where the loss leaves the Clippers, who were vocal in the pre-season about how they could beat the Warriors, is anyone’s guess as they slumped to a 6-5 record.
Stephen Curry led Golden State with 27 points and four steals. But it isn’t just how many wins the Warriors have or whom they’ve beaten that’s been so impressive.
“That’s why you grow up playing this game is because of the type of joy from what just happened out there”, Warriors interim head coach Luke Walton said.
Harrison Barnes added 20 points and nine rebounds for the Warriors in a game featuring 18 lead changes and 17 ties.
Dirk Nowitzki had 19 for Dallas, going 8 of 12 from the field and making all three of his 3-point attempts. But the Warriors had time for yet another surge. Chicago put Butler in iso situations and used the pick and roll to either get him open or kick out to a shooter.
The fact that the Warriors got to the Bulls game undefeated is impressive.
Paul, meanwhile, couldn’t be stopped in the first. G Leandro Barbosa returned from the flu a night earlier and G Shaun Livingston played for the first time in three games after being sidelined with a strained left hip flexor.
Paul tallied 35 points and eight assists after sitting out the previous two games and three of the last five games with his groin injury, numbers that won’t provide any solace after his team was outscored 22-5 to end the game. But then there was the matter of closing things out against an unbeaten team featuring the NBA’s top offense, something that rattled the Clippers in the moments that mattered most.
The Warriors are 7-0 at home this season and that last loss came to the Bulls when Rose scored 30 points.
Green had his playing time limited by foul trouble but hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the third to cut the lead to 12.
Golden State’s 18th consecutive regular-season win dating back to a year ago came at the expense of the Bulls, who were the last team to beat the Warriors at home in the regular season, a 113-111 overtime triumph on January 27.
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Physical skirmishes and verbal barbs have been exchanged between the teams and Los Angeles defeated the Warriors in a memorable seven-game playoff series in 2014.
