GAME NIGHT FROM THE UNITED CENTER
TV: NBC Sports Chicago: Neil Funk and Stacey King: 7PM
RADIO: 670 The Score: Chuck Swirsky, Bill Wennington, Steve Kashul 6:45 pre.
Golden State (6-1, 3-1 on the road) at Bulls (2-4, 1-1 at home:
LEADING SCORERS: Bulls: LaVine: 29ppg. Golden State: Curry: 33 ppg.
LEADING REBOUNDERS: Bulls: Felicio: 6 per. Golden State: Durant: 8 per.
LEADING ASSISTS: Bulls: Arcidiacono: 5 per Golden State: Green: 7
CCI PREVIEW. I totally get it. The Warriors are defending champions. I get it. The Warriors are a dominant team. I get that too All Stars and Olympic gold medal winning players pepper the Warriors roster. But the Bulls have a job to do.. they’re here to win, not just to compete despite the fact they’re banged up and battered. You always respect a player with an NBA jersey. The Bulls will be ready for this one. Big stage at the UC. The Bulls must play a near perfect game. Protect the ball, play unselfishly and get back on defense!
The Warriors roster is one of the greatest collection of players of all time. Whether you agree or disagree how the Warriors were assembled, Golden State’s biggest test will come from within. Can they push themselves when they hit the 45-70 games zone? Does it matter if they have home court advantage or not come playoff time? Is Houston Golden State’s biggest threat? Perhaps Toronto or Boston? A long way to go. Things change quickly in the NBA.
Steph Curry set an NBA record making five or more three point field goals in seven consecutive games in their road win against the Nets.
Curry (33.9) and Kevin Durant (30.3) are lightening it up. Only one duo in NBA history has ever averaged 30 or more points per game (for a complete season) Elgin Baylor (38.3) and Jerry West (30.8) with the Lakers in 1961-62.
Chicago’s Alfonzo McKinnie has impressed the Warriors coaching staff asserting himself with energy, execution and relentlessness off the bench. Against the Nets, McKinnie showed his versatility knocking down a three and attacking the rim. He attended Currie and Marshall High School. In college he played at Eastern Illinois and Wisconsin Green Bay. Last season he saw action in 14 games for the Raptors and participated in the G League.
Golden State held on for a hard fought road win in Brooklyn. Steve Kerr had to extend his starters extra minutes to preserve their fourth straight win.
BULLS UPDATE: Congrats to Ryan Arcidiacono who is having a terrific start. He’s shooting 56% from the floor. 28 assists 5 turnovers.
BULLS WEEKLY SCHEDULE:
Monday: Home with Golden State
Wednesday: Home with Denver
Friday: Home with Indiana
Saturday: Home with Houston
CCI 24 SECONDS NBA NEWS AND NOTES:
LAC 136 Washington 104. Nine double figure scorers for the Clips. The Wizards fall to 1-5. Washington has allowed 750 points in their first six games; the most points allowed by an NBA team through six games since the 1990-91 Denver Nuggets.
OKC 117 Phoenix 110. Devin Booker missed another game (hamstring) for the Suns. The Thunder win for the first time. Nerlens Noel trying to revitalize his career had a 20-15 game. OKC played without Steven Adams (calf).
Utah 113 Dallas 104. Props to the bigs… Rudy Gobert and DeAndre Jordan each registered their sixth straight double-doubles. Gobert: 23-16. Jordan nearly had a triple-double of 12-19-9.
Ty Lue has been dismissed as head coach of the Cavaliers after a 0-6 start.
DeMar DeRozan has scored 136 points in his first 5 games with the Spurs, the most since the Spurs moved in to the NBA in 1976-77. The only other player in that list with 100+ points is David Robinson with 115.
Thanks for reading CCI. Reach out at cswirsky@bulls.com or Twitter: @ctsbulls. Always a pleasure.