Chicago 115, Golden State 92
Game flow
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Scottie Pippen scored 23 of his 32 points in the first half as the Chicago Bulls built a 37-point lead and cruised to a 115-92 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Friday.
Pippen had 10 points and Michael Jordan had nine in the first quarter, helping Chicago build a 35-8 lead over the Warriors, who tied their all-time low for points in the opening period.
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Pippen
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"It's hard to keep the same kind of intensity, especially when get up over thirty points," said Pippen, who was 14 for 24 from the floor. "I thought we did a great job tonight. We didn't allow them to ever feel like they were in the game.
"I thought it was a great exhibition by a great basketball team. I thought we came out early and established what we wanted to do in the game. From a defensive standpoint, we really got out there."
The Bulls, who posted their sixth win in a row, shot 65.2 percent from the field (15 for 23) in the first quarter. Golden State hit just three of 19 (15.8 percent) from the field and were outrebounded 17-6.
"We just got embarrassed," Golden State head coach Rick Adelman said. "After the first quarter we were plain embarrassed. We were impatient and they took us to school. They played great defense and shot very well.
"We had no patience on the offensive end and we played right into their hands by doing that. They got a lot of easy baskets and they were hitting their jumpers."
Jordan and Toni Kukoc each added 18 points for Chicago, which took its largest lead at 56-19 with 4:19 left in the second quarter.
Latrell Sprewell scored 18 points for the Warriors.
"We started watching each other instead of moving, setting picks, getting away from our defender," Sprewell said. "Tonight, after the initial play broke down, we were left scrambling. It's tough to do that against a good team. Games like this can be discouraging, but we have to try to get past this loss."
Pippen had 10 rebounds and seven assists, Jason Caffey contributed 15 points and Steve Kerr chipped in 11 for Chicago, which shot 53.3 percent (48 for 90) from the field, including seven of 18 from 3-point range. The Bulls picked up 29 points on 22 Golden State turnovers.
Joe Smith had 16 points and eight rebounds, B.J. Armstrong added 15 points and Chris Mullin had 13 for the Warriors, who recorded a season-low with 35 points in the first half.
"They made it tough on us tonight," Smith said. "They contested every shot we took. We didn't have any answers. They came out aggressively and we couldn't deal with it. They got a lot of points in transition after we turned the ball over.
"They just played great defense. Basically they took us out of our game."
