The Golden State Warriors got back to winning ways as they crushed the Chicago Bulls at Oracle Arena on Friday night.

The Dubs bounced back from a heavy loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in their previous outing by producing a 143-94 rout of the Bulls.

The win came without the services of Kevin Durant, however, as he was ruled out with a sprained ankle.

KD is also doubtful for their encounter with the New Orleans Pelicans tonight and head coach Steve Kerr has admitted that he made a mistake playing the small forward against his former team.

"I thought he was fine. We thought he was fine, but then he got sore afterwards [Wednesday]," Kerr said after the win over Chicago.

"I'm sure the league is happy with us because we played him on their 'marquee' game with [Russell Westbrook] and all that stuff, but he came out sore the next day, so we shouldn't have played him."

Durant ended the game against OKC with 21 points in a heated matchup against his former team and teammate, Westbrook - a game the Thunder won by double digits.

Kerr doesn't believe the problem is a huge concern for his star small forward but wants to exercise caution moving forward.

"Now we've got to be careful. I don't think it's anything serious, but we've got to make sure he's right, so I would say he's doubtful," he said.

The Warriors coach's "marquee" comment was certainly a dig at the league office who have put new rules in place and altered the schedule to protect nationally televised games this season.

The NBA moved to protect 22 high-profile games this campaign in the wake of players being rested at high rates in recent years.

As a result of the changes, no team competing in those 22 games will be involved in a back-to-back or a five-games-in-seven-days scenario or will have travelled more than 3,500 miles in the seven days before the game.

The absence of Durant, though, didn't make a difference to the defending champions at all against one of the league's weakest teams in the Bulls.

Stephen Curry had a game-high 33 points on 10-of-18 shooting, to go along with seven rebounds and four assists. Klay Thompson added 29 points on 12-of-19 shooting and 5-of-9 from beyond the arc.

The Oakland-based outfit will have a sterner test against the Pelicans on their home floor tonight as they welcome the most dominant tandem in the league in Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins.