Steve Kerr called himself the luckiest coach in the NBA.
In his first coaching job, his Golden State Warriors have set a franchise record with their 12th straight victory and improved to a league-best 10-1 on the road.
“They’re easy to coach. They’re really talented. They’re unselfish,” Kerr said. “I’m just lucky.”
Draymond Green scored a career-high 31 points and the Warriors beat the Chicago Bulls 112-102 on Saturday night. Klay Thompson added 24 points for the Warriors, who extended their league-best record to 17-2.
Jimmy Butler led the Bulls (12-8) with 24 points. Pau Gasol added 22 points and 20 rebounds.
The Warriors previously won a franchise-record 11 straight games from December 29, 1971-January 22, 1972.
“You’re talking about a franchise that was historically known for losing,” Green said. “A new ownership group came in, and it completely changes the entire organisation. It’s a great feeling. We feel like we have a lot left in the tank.”
The Bulls fell to just 2-5 at home.
The Warriors had lost five straight and 11 of 12 and were 6-28 over 35 years in Chicago.
“It’s been miserable,” said Stephen Curry, who earned his first victory at the United Center. “We’ve not only lost, but we’ve gotten beaten pretty bad here.”
Thompson and Green hit back-to-back three-pointers to give the Warriors a 95-87 lead with 6:25 remaining. Green made another three and hit a jumper to extend the lead to 103-90 with 3:11 left.
Gasol tipped in a basket to cut the lead to 107-100 with 31.5 seconds left, but Curry went 5-of-6 at the free throw line in the final seconds.
Green shot 7-for-13 from three-point range.
“We made a conscious effort of getting Curry out of the game, but we left Green open a lot of the time,” Gasol said. “He got going and he shot 13 threes – which is a lot of threes – and most of them were uncontested.”
Green’s previous career high was 24 points against the Los Angeles Clippers on November 5. He entered Saturday averaging 12.5 points.
“He’s given us a new dimension with his three-point shooting,” Kerr said.
Curry had 19 points to give him double-figure scoring in 18 of 19 games. Harrison Barnes and Marreese Speights added 11 points apiece for the Warriors, who shot 12-of-30 from three-point range and had 28 fast-break points to the Bulls’ 13.
Joakim Noah scored 16 points and Taj Gibson, back after missing six games with an ankle injury, added 12 for the Bulls, who committed 22 turnovers. Gasol recorded his sixth straight double-double.
“They’re defending better,” Gasol said about the Warriors. “They understand that it’s a key piece of being a great team.”
AROUND THE LEAGUE
76ers 108 (2-18), Pistons 101 (3-17) OT
Hollis Thompson’s three-pointer in the final seconds sent the game to overtime, and Philadelphia outlasted Detroit in a matchup of the teams with the NBA’s two worst records.
Detroit dropped their 11th straight and now lead the 76ers by only a game in the standings. Philadelphia have won two of three since starting the season 0-17.
Thompson tied it at 100 when he sank a fadeaway shot from the right corner with 13.4 seconds left in regulation. The Pistons managed only one point in overtime.
The teams entered with a combined record of 4-34, the second-worst in NBA history for teams about to play each other with a minimum of 38 combined games. The 76ers and Buffalo Braves were 4-35 entering their meeting November 24, 1972, according to STATS.
Robert Covington scored 25 points for Philadelphia. Josh Smith led Detroit with 23 points, and he also had eight rebounds and seven assists.
Magic 105 (9-14), Kings 96 (10-10)
Tobias Harris scored a season-high 27 points for Orlando, and Channing Frye made a game-changing three-pointer late in the fourth quarter.
Victor Oladipo had 16 points, seven assists and five rebounds, helping the Magic to their second straight win following back-to-back losses to Golden State and the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Magic led most of the game and were up by 16 early in the fourth quarter before holding off a late Sacramento push to end a four-game losing streak to the Kings.
Darren Collison scored 22 points for Sacramento, and Jason Thompson had 18. The Kings have dropped five of six.
Rockets 100 (16-4), Suns 95 (12-9)
Trevor Ariza and Pat Beverley each scored 19 points, leading Houston to their fourth straight win.
The Rockets improved to 16-4 by winning for the seventh time in the nine games All-Star centre Dwight Howard (knee strain) has been out.
The Rockets led by as many as 22 points. The Suns used an 8-2 run, capped by a tip-in by PJ Tucker, to cut the lead to 97-93 with 21.9 seconds remaining.
But Beverley made three free throws to make it 100-93 and Houston held on for the win.
Eric Bledsoe led the Suns with 23 points.
Spurs 123 (15-5), Timberwolves 101 (4-15)
Marco Belinelli scored 20 points, Tim Duncan had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and San Antonio rolled to the easy win.
The Spurs had seven players score in double figures. Kawhi Leonard and Cory Joseph had 18 points apiece, and Boris Diaw finished with 17.
San Antonio had a season-high 30 assists.
Zach LaVine had 22 points and Shabazz Muhammad added 20 for Minnesota, who have lost five straight.
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