The Golden State Warriors, it turns out, don't need Stephen
Curry. They've got Draymond Green.
Jokes! The Warriors need the MVP, but they can still play
great basketball without him, especially when Green takes over. He led the
Warriors to a roller coaster 109-105 overtime win over the Atlanta Hawks on
Tuesday. It was win No. 54 on the season to keep the Warriors on an NBA-record
pace even with Curry sitting out with a sore left ankle.
Green had 15 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists. He came
up big down the stretch and in overtime with stifling defensive plays and
game-changing shots on a night when the Warriors needed him badly. Klay
Thompson had 26 points, but on 8-of-27 shooting. The Warriors couldn't buy a
bucket, making just 39.8 percent of their shots.
The Hawks' defense stifled the Warriors in the second half,
holding Golden State to a mere 38 points in the third and fourth quarters. Paul
Millsap had 19 points and seven rebounds and Dennis Schroder had 17 points and
nine assists, but the Hawks couldn't quite get over the hump though they came
oh-so-close.
The Warriors pushed their regular season home winning streak
to 43 games, one short of the Bulls' all-time record, thanks to a desperation
shot by Green to beat the shot clock in Oakland.
Green was only 6-of-15 from the field, but with Curry out he
ran the offense while still turning in a defensive effort for the ages.
The Hawks took the lead in the fourth quarter, but Green
wouldn't let the Warriors lose. He hit a bucket with a foul and then stepped up
defensively like he always does.
The Warriors -- and Green -- are prideful even when Curry
isn't on the court. They had many opportunities to put the Hawks away, but
their shooting failed them again and again. They never folded, however -- not
that anyone expected the defending champs to do so. The Hawks, to their credit,
shut the Warriors down in the second half. But the Warriors showed that they do
not lose easily -- even when their MVP is out.
The Chicago Bulls' defensive woes are even worse than we
thought
The Miami Heat couldn't miss, not that the Chicago Bulls
were making it very difficult. The Heat hit 52-of-77 from the field to shoot a
franchise record 67.5 percent as they coasted to an easy 129-111 win over a
once daunting Bulls defense. It was the latest in a string of extremely poor
defensive performances by the Bulls, who have given up more than 100 points in
14 straight games.
Everyone scored for the Heat. Hassan Whiteside led the way
with 26 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks in 33 minutes off the bench. Joe Johnson,
who has fit in nicely in his two games with the Heat, had 24 points on 10-of-13
shooting. Luol Deng and Dwyane Wade added 20 and 18, respectively.
Not too long ago, the Bulls played defense. At a glance, in
fact, it appears they still do -- the Bulls have the NBA's twelfth-best
defensive rating in the NBA, giving up 102.6 points per 100 possessions. A
closer look, however, shows the Bulls defense is slipping, and badly.
At the end of 2015 they had the NBA's fourth-best defensive
rating, giving up just 98.7 points per 100 possessions. In 2016, however, the
Bulls have imploded. Since Jan. 1, their defensive rating is 106.7, which ranks
No. 21 in the league in that span. They're 12-17 in the new year.
It doesn't help that Jimmy Butler has missed 11 of the last
12 games or that Joakim Noah has been out for all but four games since December
21, but the Bulls' defensive woes have them slipping out of the playoffs. At
30-29, the Bulls wouldn't be in the postseason if the season ended today.
Fred Hoiberg's first year as coach hasn't gone the way he
imagined. Under Tom Thibodeau, the Bulls at least had an identity as a tough
defensive squad. The Bulls can't figure out who they are right now.
