The Bulls are now 2-1 on their West Coast road trip.
The Chicago Bulls came into Tuesday's matchup with the Golden State Warriors looking to avoid starting another losing streak. The injury-depleted Bulls had lost to the struggling Sacramento Kings just a few days prior, but used a massive performance from Matas Buzelis and a total team effort on the glass and in the paint to take down a similarly injury-depleted Warriors team.
Josh Giddey and Buzelis both continue to look like dominant players in the month of March. Giddey notched 14 points, 6 rebounds and 10 assists by halftime, controlling the game with his pace on his way to another triple-double. Giddey's 28th triple-double moved him into 20th on the NBA's all-time triple-double list, tying Michael Jordan.
Giddey's willingness to give the ball up early to advance it up the floor is contagious. As a result, the Bulls are capable of textbook fastbreaks where there isn't a single dribble on their way to a bucket. They finished with 34 assists on the night.
Chicago went into the half up leading 57-51, with Tre Jones and Matas Buzelis doing the rest of the heavy lifting scoring-wise, a theme that would continue through the rest of the night.
Things change quickly in the NBA, and this game a prime example of it. The runs were constant both ways, with the Warriors using a massive push in the second half to swing the momentum back in their favor. Golden State went on a 19-2 run that ended with just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter. This stifled the momentum that Chicago had built up with their constant pressure on the rim and on the offensive glass all night. The Bulls finished with a 64-44 advantage in points in the paint, and a 20-12 advantage in offensive rebounds.
Leonard Miller was a big part of the Bulls' physical effort in Tuesday's game, finishing with a career-high 17 points and the first double-double (11 rebounds) of his career. Miller showed no fear streaking to the basket for a layup to cut the deficit to one with just over 21 seconds left.
Ultimately, the Bulls squandered a double-digit lead in Tuesday's game, but they didn't give up. Jalen Smith--who finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds despite some poor shooting--was fouled by Draymond Green in the corner on a fadeaway jumper with mere seconds left. Smith knocked down two free throws that capped an 11-2 Bulls run to lead the game to OT.
In OT, Buzelis hit a floater off the glass to start the period, and later knocked down a massive 3-pointer off of a Giddey assist to put Chicago up four points with just over two minutes left.
The Bulls will be able to look at the film from this game knowing that they gave a great effort that resulted in a wild, but hard-fought win.
More importantly for Chicago, a decent chunk of what could be their young core moving forward played excellent basketball. Giddey and Buzelis, and even Miller to an extent, looked like true building blocks on Tuesday night.
Miller had a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double, Giddey finished with a career 17 assists as a part of his triple-double, and Buzelis with a career-high 41 points in the six-point win.
Chicago's next stop on the road trip sees them take on old foe LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night.