Warriors Give Jackson First Win As Head Coach
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Stephen Curry settled into a chair in front of his locker, then placed his sore right ankle into a Gatorade jug filled with ice and water.
Golden State's mercurial guard had better get used to it at this rate.
Curry rolled his surgically repaired ankle and limped off the court for the second time in seven days. This time the pain was a little easier to take.
Curry had 21 points and 10 assists, and played stifling defense on Derrick Rose most of the night to lead the Warriors to a 99-91 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Monday.
"He ran his basketball team," said Golden State coach Mark Jackson, who quietly celebrated his first victory at any level. "He was in attack mode against arguably the best point guard and the MVP of the league. He did a great job of being an extension of me on the floor."
Monta Ellis scored 26 points and had seven assists, David Lee had 22 points and seven rebounds, and Dominic McGuire made three free throws in the final 47 seconds to seal the win.
Rose had a poor shooting night and finished with 13 points for Chicago.
It was similar to a year ago when the Warriors, playing at home, held Rose to a quiet 14 points and 10 assists and beat the Bulls 101-90.
Ellis drew the assignment against Rose in that game. This time it was almost exclusively Curry, who followed Rose closely throughout the night and prevented the league's reigning MVP from getting settled in.
"We had an opportunity to show what we've been working on in training camp defensively as a team, getting on the same page," said Curry, who was taken for X-rays on his ankle after the game. "We didn't do that in the fourth quarter last night so we had an opportunity to come back out tonight on a short rest and turn that around. It just happened that D-Rose was here and we figured it out tonight."
A day after making a series of late-game breakdowns against Chris Paul and the Clippers in a 105-86 loss, the Warriors built a double-digit lead in the first quarter and held on.
Rose went 4 of 17 from the floor and missed badly on a pair of 3-pointers in the final moments, including an airball with 25 seconds left.
Luol Deng, whose block of Kobe Bryant as time expired sealed Chicago's season-opening 88-87 win over the Los Angeles Lakers, had 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulls. They trailed by as much as 19 before making a late surge to get within 96-91 with 36 seconds remaining.
Chicago, which is in the midst of a season-opening, four-game road trip, has lost nine of its last 10 games in Oakland.
"We let them get easy looks," Rose said. "In the first quarter, we've got to find a way to stop people. Guys that we know can score the ball, they're getting too many easy looks."
Ellis, held to 15 in the season-opening loss to the Clippers, got the Warriors going with 13 points in the first quarter but it was Curry who provided the biggest lift.
He scored 12 straight points and drove past three Chicago defenders in the key to cap a 16-5 run and give Golden State a 46-27 lead. Curry also shadowed Rose and helped hold him to seven points in the first half.
Rose, who hit the game-winner in the Bulls 88-87 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday, took only three shots in the first quarter when Chicago committed eight turnovers.
The Warriors increased their lead to 17 after three before the Bulls made their late push to get within 93-85 with 1:44 left.
Kyle Korver made a pair of 3-pointers in a 14-second span to pull Chicago within 96-91 but the Bulls couldn't get closer.
