PHOENIX — If Steve Kerr had been any more muted on Wednesday night, he would have been chromatic gray on the color wheel. His Golden State team had just handed the host Suns a 112-104 setback to maintain its edge over the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls in the season-long race for the grand prize of immortality. The reigning N.B.A. champion Warriors notched victory No. 48 in their 52nd game. Twenty years ago, the Bulls started 48-5 on their way to a record 72-win regular season.
The 1995-96 Bulls squad that Kerr graced as a bench player had a winning margin of 13.