SAN FRANCISCO – Jordan Poole scored 16 of his game-high 30 points in the first half off the bench helping Golden State kickoff a three-game homestand with a 119-111 victory over the Chicago Bulls Friday night for their ninth straight win at Chase Center this season.
The Warriors (12-11) improve to 10-1 at home this season and 4-0 against the Eastern Conference in the Bay Area.
In the first quarter Poole came out sizzling, scoring 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including 4-of-7 three-pointers. He finished 11-for-18 from field, knocking down a season-high seven three-pointers. Poole scored 13 of Golden State’s last 15 points in the third quarter giving the Warriors a 96-82 lead at the end of the period.
Golden State connected on 20-of-50 three-pointers on the night. The Warriors are starting to resemble the team that won last season’s NBA championship after getting off to a bumpy start this season.
“The rotations changed a little bit a couple games ago, we kind of started to get a chemistry, a good rotation, and we’re just out there playing our basketball now,” Poole said. “It feels really good to kind of gain our chemistry. We’ve just got to keep it rolling.”
Klay Thompson finished with 26 points on 9-for-21 shooting, including a big three-pointer with 6:03 left in the fourth quarter following a Bulls basket that cut the lead to 105-101. Thompson had six assists and five rebounds, while Stephen Curry had 19 points on 6-for-16 shots, 11 rebounds and six assists for the Warriors, who had 32 assists on 42 made baskets.
It was the 14th game this season that the Dubs had 30-plus assists, a league-leading mark.
Draymond Green finished a rebound short for his first triple-double of the season, scoring 13 points, 10 assists, and nine rebounds. Green nailed a key three-pointer from the left wing that pushed Golden State’s lead to 113-109 after Zach LaVine drilled a three-pointer of his own pulling Chicago within 110-109 at the 2:27 mark in the fourth quarter.
“That was huge, one-point game at that point,” said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr. “That was the shot of the game. They were the aggressor the whole fourth and we were not playing well. We had nothing going on that possession.”
Andrew Wiggins added 12 points and Kevon Looney was a beast on the boards, finishing with a game-high 12 rebounds. Golden State outrebounded Chicago, 50-44.
Nikola Vucevic had 23 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulls, who have now lost three of their last four games. Chicago (9-13) came into tonight’s game following a 132-113 loss in Phoenix Wednesday night.
LaVine had 21 points and seven rebounds but battled foul trouble for most of the night. He picked up his fourth personal foul with 4:03 left in the third quarter.
DeMar DeRozan had 16 points, seven assists and six rebounds, but shot 4-of-15 from the field after shooting 0-for-6 showing in the first half. It was the first time this season that DeRozan failed to make a shot in the first half of a game.
The Warriors were careless with the basketball, committing 20 turnovers leading to 27 points by the Bulls. Chicago dominated the paint, outscoring Golden State 54-34 down low. The Bulls held the edge in fast break points, 21-10.
The Warriors have won 11 straight and 14 of 15 against Chicago and eight in a row at home. Golden State’s only winning streak against one opponent is 11 consecutive victories versus Cleveland. The Bulls haven’t beaten the Warriors since a 94-87 win on March 2, 2017, at United Center.
The Warriors host the Houston Rockets on Saturday night.
Photo by Warriors/Twitter
