Curry, Warriors Protect Immaculate Record With Huge Comeback Win Over Clippers

The league’s last undefeated team ran its franchise-record home winning streak to 26 games by beating Chicago; the last visiting team to win at Oracle Arena during the regular season, back in January.

The victory, on the heels of wins over Toronto on Tuesday and the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday, allowed Golden State to equal the season-opening mark of the 1957-58 Boston Celtics.

Klay Thompson added a season-high 25 points and Harrison Barnes finished with 21 for the Warriors, who became the first team to win its first 13 games since Dallas opened 14-0 in 2002-03.

Sacramento point-guard Rajon Rondo had a season-high 18 assists, 14 points and nine rebounds after having three triple-doubles in his previous four games.

Golden State was the one with all the momentum as they stretched their lead in the second quarter. With less than 10 minutes left, the Warriors moved to within one point of the Clippers, 96-95, before the hosts responded with a 6-0 run that included back-to-back jams from DeAndre Jordan and Josh Smith.

The Clippers twice led by as many as 23 points in the first half, only to see that lead whittled to just 14 (68-54) at halftime. Rose is considered a game-time decision to face the Warriors, but the Bulls know they can count on Jimmy Butler to flourish in an increased role if Rose has to sit out again. Butler dropped 10 as Chicago put the ball in his hands and let him make plays.

The Bulls scored five points in the final 5:43.

This campaign has followed a similar script with Curry twice providing late shots that helped the Warriors record comeback wins in two meetings with Los Angeles.

Curry, despite missing eight of his 11 3-point attempts, had 27 points to lead the Warriors, who improved to 8-0 at home.

Anderson Varejao, who came off the bench to score nine points, helped Cleveland build the lead to 97-84.

The Clippers shot 71 percent in the first quarter, when Paul scored 18 points and was ideal from the floor, the 3-point line and the free throw line.

“They’re really good”, Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. The Bulls did limit the Warriors to just 20 assists on 39 field goals and converted 16 turnovers into 17 points. At that point four minutes into the night, Paul had more points (11 total) than the Warriors as a team.

The real question right now is why would you pick anyone else to win the championship this season?

Ryan Anderson hit six three-pointers and scored 30 points for the second straight game.