The Golden State Warriors are looking to preserve their 13-0 record as the Chicago Bulls visit the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California.
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The victory, on the heels of wins over Toronto on Tuesday and the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday, allowed Golden State to equal the season-opening mark of the 1957-58 Boston Celtics.
The Warriors were 11 of 15 from the field in the fourth, when they made nine of 10 free throws and outrebounded the Clippers 11-6.
Five players scored in double digits for the defending Atlantic Division champions, off to an 8-6 start that began with five straight wins. Their 41 points in the first were the most in a quarter and their 68 points were the most in a half this season….
Curry, despite missing eight of his 11 3-point attempts, had 27 points to lead the Warriors, who improved to 8-0 at home. His 3-pointer made it a one-point game and gave him 21 on the evening. Danilo Gallinari is averaging 18 points and 5.5 rebounds while Will Barton is averaging 14.1 points and 1.9 assists.
The uphill climb continued and Golden State were within 96-95 on a Barnes 3-pointer, but the Clipppers hung on with a 16-7 run for a 112-102 lead with 5:05 minutes left.
In Cleveland Dellavedova was dishing out some tasty treats for his Cavaliers buddies, giving 13 assists – the biggest total of his career as well as scoring seven points as the Cavs beat the Milwaukee Bucks 115-100.
“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. But Curry came back with a nice under-the-rim drive and rolled the ball across his fingertips and through the net for two, the score 94-89 with barely more than three minutes left.
“It’s going to be ugly some games, it’s going to be fun some games but we have to make plays down the stretch and we did that tonight”.
Stephen Curry finished with 27 points.
Harrison Barnes added 20 points, including two huge 3-pointers late. Arch rivals or not, the Clippers’ Blake Griffin knows a superior team when he sees it. “They’re the better team”, Griffin said.
Hence, even though the Warriors travel to mile-high Denver on Sunday to try to tie the best-start record, they may finally be on the downhill. “We had a very brief discussion (about the coaching job), but it really didn’t get anywhere”.
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With the reigning NBA MVP pouring in 40 points, Golden State charged back and won 124-117 for their 13th victory to start the season.
