Chicago Bulls use grit and hustle to beat the Golden State Warriors

The Chicago Bulls took advantage of a Golden State Warriors team missing Kevin Durant. They outworked them and came away with a surprising victory on national television.

The last time the Chicago Bulls played the Golden State Warriors, they embarrassed themselves. Golden State thoroughly thrashed them 123-92. The Warriors took control of the game early and cruised. In the fourth quarter, the Bulls experienced their typical breakdown, and the game turned into a laugher.

The Warriors weren’t laughing on Thursday.

The Bulls came out focused, and they took advantage of a Warriors team playing for the first time without Kevin Durant in the lineup. They outworked the Warriors and pulled off a surprising win.

Jimmy Butler led the Bulls with 22 points in the game. He also made some crucial free throws late in the game to give the Bulls a lead and to seal it late. It was Bobby Portis‘ play that really shined.

Portis scored 17 points and had a season-high 13 rebounds. He is certainly showing he can fill in the shoes left by the trade of Taj Gibson. Since Gibson’s departure, Portis averages 11.2 points per game and 7.2 rebounds per game. He was solid on Thursday, especially in the first half, keeping the Bulls afloat.

After going point-for-point for most of the first quarter (it was tied at 15 with about three minutes remaining), the Warriors seemed to take control. They led by seven at the end of that quarter. The Bulls outscored the Warriors in the second 28-25 to cut into that lead, however.

The two teams again went toe-to-toe for much of the third quarter. Then the tide changed as the Bulls went on a 10-0 spurt. That gave them a six-point lead at the end of the quarter.

The Warriors really struggled with their shooting. They shot just 38.6 percent from the field, and just 20 percent from beyond the arc. That is their game, and when the shot isn’t dropping they struggle. Of course, the Bulls had something to do with that, contesting most of their shots throughout the night.

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It appeared that the same Bulls team that struggled through the end of games showed up again in the fourth quarter. After maintaining their six-point lead, suddenly the Bulls were looking up at a three-point deficit late in the game. With Golden State, no lead is safe.

Alas, the Bulls held on to this game. They used a 10-2 run in the final moments of the game to come away with the victory.

There were some interesting streaks on the line in this games. The Warriors lost on Tuesday night to the Washington Wizards. The loss to the Bulls was their second straight. The last time that happened to them was in April of 2015, a streak of 146 games.

The Bulls’ victory made it 18 straight home games on TNT that they’ve won. The last time they lost a home game on TNT was in February of 2013. They’ve also now won five of their last six games.

The Bulls are now 31-30 and moved up to the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference.

Next: Chicago Bulls trade deadline takeaway

Next up for the Bulls is another nationally televised game. They face the Los Angeles Clippers on ABC Saturday night. They won their last two national games (they beat the Cleveland Cavaliers last Saturday on ABC), so let’s see if they continue their good play.