Curry scores 34 points, Butler adds 25 in Golden State debut as Warriors rally to beat Bulls 132-111

Stephen Curry scored 34 points and tied a season high with eight 3-pointers, Jimmy Butler added 25 points in his Golden State debut and the Warriors rallied to beat the Chicago Bulls 132-111 on Saturday night.

Curry scored 24 of his points and made five 3s in the third quarter as the Warriors went from trailing by 24 to leading by three.

Butler, who played his first six seasons in Chicago, made a big impact in his first game since a trade-deadline deal from Miami following a messy split with the Heat. The six-time All-Star made 11 of 13 free throws and had four assists.

Quinten Post scored 18 points and Brandin Podziemski added 16 points and seven assists.

Coby White led Chicago with 27 points and made six 3s. Jalen Smith added 15 points and matched a career high with four 3-pointers. Rookie Matas Buzelis scored 16 as the Bulls lost for the 11th time in 14 games.

Takeaways

Warriors: Butler and the Warriors will need time to adapt to each other, but they’re off to a decent start.

Bulls: The Bulls were sailing along before things took a huge turn in the third quarter. They were also a bit sloppy, committing 17 turnovers for 29 points.

Key moment

The Bulls led 83-59 in the third before Curry put Golden State on his back.

Chicago led 93-90 when Butler scored on a tip-in with 1:30 left to start a 16-1 run. Curry then pulled up for a 16-footer and buried a 3 to make it 97-93 with 14 seconds remaining before White cut it to three with a free throw at the end of the quarter.

Butler then scored the first seven in the fourth, starting with a three-point play off an alley-oop dunk, and Brandin Podziemski cut for a layup that made it 106-94.

Key stat

The Warriors made 11 of 23 3-pointers in the second half and were 19 of 48 in the game.

Up next

Golden State’s six-game trip continues at Milwaukee on Monday. Chicago hosts Detroit on Tuesday.

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba