CHICAGO _ The Warriors' philosophy without Kevin Durant is simple, even if losing their leading scorer for at least a month with a sprained MCL is anything but.
"Obviously, you feel for him and want him to get healthy as fast as possible," Stephen Curry said, "but not rush it because we have a long journey ahead of us going into the playoffs. Next-man-up mentality."
The Bulls' plan surrounding Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade is based more on hope. Such is the nature of the beast when six players in the rotation have two years of experience or less.
Thursday night at a raucous United Center, hope prevailed.
Getting a solid game from Bobby Portis and a huge late 3-pointer from Paul Zipser, who returned to the rotation after missing seven games with left ankle tendinitis, the Bulls defeated the Warriors, 94-87, to extend one improbable streak and end a historic one.
The Bulls have won 18 straight regular-season home games broadcast on TNT. And they handed the Warriors their second straight regular-season loss for the first time since April 2015, a league-record streak of 146 games.
The Warriors had been 18-0 following a loss over the last two seasons, winning by an average of 15 points.
Portis finished with a double-double of 17 points and 13 rebounds. Zipser, who promptly returned to the closing lineup, contributed nine points, four rebounds and the 3-pointer that narrowly beat the shot clock and pushed the Bulls ahead by six with 1 minute, 41 seconds left.
"We've proven that we can play the best," Wade said. "Wins like this are very important as we go down the stretch."
Curry scored 23 points to lead the Warriors but missed 9 of 11 3-pointers. Fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson shot 1-for-11 from beyond the arc as the Warriors shot 20 percent overall on 3-pointers and posted a season low in points.
Don't look now, but the Bulls are in sixth place in the Eastern Conference.
"They've been up and down all year," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "They've got a lot of talent. But obviously they made the big change. I thought Taj (Gibson) was such a huge part of this team, not only physically but emotionally. So we'll see how that plays out."
Last month, the Bulls lost by 31 to the Warriors without an ill Wade and injured Butler. Butler, whose 22 points led four in double figures, said he believes in the young core.
"I like the way we're playing lately," he said.
From 31 down to seven ahead, maybe that's progress? Obviously, the Warriors' high-powered offense sputtering helped, especially because many of Thompson's misses were on virtually wide-open looks.
"First half, I thought we gave them too many easy ones," Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. "We talked about it at halftime. We were really locked in following the game plan, trying to get back and make them take tough shots."
Of Zipser, Hoiberg said: "We missed him."
The Warriors signed Matt Barnes for depth to try to help stem the loss of Durant.
"It was good news on one hand," Curry said of Durant's recovery timetable, "because it looked really bad the way it kind of bent, and we didn't know exactly what was going to happen or what the prognosis was going to be. We'll be fine. Finish out however long he's out."
This time, the Bulls finished off the Warriors.
