OAKLAND, Calif. — The Chicago Bulls will be looking to turn a good road trip into a great one Wednesday night when they visit the team with the best record in basketball, the Golden State Warriors.
The Bulls have begun a six-game journey with a pair of wins over Oklahoma City and Sacramento, sandwiching an overtime loss at Houston.
Still to come: Winnable games at Phoenix and Minnesota.
The Bulls’ chances of achieving further success at Golden State would increase if they were able to get star shooting guard Jimmy Butler back from a heel injury. The All-Star has missed the last two games and is considered questionable for Wednesday.
Butler contributed 28 points in 30 minutes to the 128-100 trip-opening win at Oklahoma City, before taking time off to help soothe his bruised heel.
Dwyane Wade has stepped up his game in Butler’s absence, totaling 50 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists in the games at Houston and Sacramento.
Also playing a prominent role the past two games has been Michael Carter-Williams, who followed up his highest scoring night of the season at Houston (23 points) with his second-highest at Sacramento (21).
Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg was thrilled with the contribution of Carter-Williams, who already has missed 31 games this season with knee, wrist and back ailments.
“Michael gives you a lot of versatility,” the coach noted to reporters Tuesday. “He can make plays, is a good slasher who can attack the basket, and gives you a really good defensive presence.”
The same could be said of Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson, who like Butler is a bit of a question mark Wednesday night.
Thompson missed practice Monday and Tuesday in the wake of his grandfather’s death. The funeral was Tuesday in Portland.
The Warriors have yet to face the Bulls since breaking their NBA record for wins in a regular season with 73 last year. Golden State swept Chicago last season, winning by 12 and 31 points.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr has compiled a 3-1 record against his old club since getting the Golden State gig in 2014.
He also had been an uncertain participant in Wednesday’s game because of a run-in with referee Bill Spooner during Saturday’s 109-106 overtime loss in Sacramento.
Kerr, who had to be restrained from confronting Spooner on the court after getting ejected, was fined $25,000 for the outburst, but was not suspended.
“I knew I was going to get fined; I deserve it,” Kerr told reporters Tuesday. “I do feel bad for my words.
“I don’t mind the explosion. I think we’re all entitled to snap once in a while. But I used inappropriate words.”
The loss was the Warriors’ eighth of the season. They have responded to the first seven with wins by an average of 10.8 points.
In fact, Golden State hasn’t suffered back-to-back losses in the regular season since April of 2015, an NBA-record streak of 137 games.
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