The Golden State Warriors hadn’t lost in 186 days—but their 27-game winning streak, including a 24-0 start this season and dating back to Game 4 of the NBA Finals, ended at the hands of Jason Kidd’s Milwaukee Bucks.
Fans at the BMO Harris Bradley Center sported shirts reading “24-1” and the Bucks made it happen, halting the defending NBA champions with a decisive 108-95 victory. For Jason, even bigger than seeing the streak end was seeing his team be the first to rein in the reigning champs.
“When you talk about the streak, what’s bigger than the streak is they’re the world champs,” Coach Kidd said. “And so, for us, we didn’t talk about the streak, it was about playing the world champs.”
Milwaukee matched Golden State’s frantic pace throughout the game, using a hot start put the Warriors under pressure early. Three-pointers by O.J. Mayo and Khris Middleton had the Bucks out to a nine-point lead early. Mayo went 3-of-3 from three-point range for a game-high 11 points in the first, while Middleton added seven.
Big man Greg Monroe then heated up late in the quarter. On consecutive possessions, he pulled down defensive rebounds then hit shots on the other end to make Milwaukee’s lead 12—though a late flurry by Golden State cut it to just two going into the second quarter.
The Bucks didn’t let up, however. The Warriors briefly went ahead by three early in the second, but Milwaukee owned the rest of the period. Giannis Antetokounmpo was the fuel cell in the second, going for nine points and five assists. Jabari Parker added six points, and the Bucks got it done on the defensive end as well. Michael Carter-Williams and Rashad Vaughn combined for three steals, and the Bucks created nine points off six Golden State turnovers.
“I thought Giannis, Moose, Jabari did a great job of trying to make (Stephen Curry’s) shots tough,” Mayo said of the team’s defensive efforts. “He’s probably in the best shape of any player I’ve played this year, in terms of non-stop moving off the ball.”
Milwaukee shot 57.9 percent in the second quarter and took a commanding 59-48 lead into the break.
Golden State reined the game back in during the second. The Warriors leaned on Draymond Green down low, as well as a couple of outside shots by Brandon Rush and Klay Thompson. Only some deft defensive play, in the form of six turnovers resulting in 11 points, kept the Bucks from succumbing to the Golden State run. The Bucks still led by three, 80-77, going into the fourth.
In the final period, that strong defense laid the foundation yet again. Defensively, Coach Kidd had plenty to be proud of, including his squad being the first to hold Golden State under 100 points since April 5 of last season.
The Warriors have faced numerous fourth-quarter deficits during their impressive winning streak, but J-Kidd’s defense didn’t allow it this time. Milwaukee harassed its visitors and closed out on three-pointers. Golden State went just 2-of-8 from outside—the shots that usually brought the defending champions back into the game didn’t fall at the Bradley Center.
On the other end of the floor, Jason’s squad went to the interior, where MCW and Moose carved up the competition. They each tallied 11 points, upending the Warriors’ small-ball style.
“I don’t take it personally, they do that all the time,” Monroe said. “It’s what they go to. It’s something they did last year and they won a championship like that. He
[coach Kidd] stuck with it. I was just trying to be aggressive. Obviously, coach thought we had a mismatch. I just tried to make sure I made the right play whether it was attacking or finding my teammates if they came and helped.”
Monroe finished with a game-high 28 points to go with 11 rebounds and five assists. The Bucks registered a spectacular 31 assists on 44 field goals. Milwaukee’s second leading scorer was Parker, who notched 19 off 9-of-14 shooting to go with seven rebounds. Mayo was next with 17 points, hitting four of his eight attempts from downtown.
MCW also had a tremendous game, going 7-of-10 from the field 17 points, five assists, five steals and three rebounds—and his biggest contributions came when Milwaukee needed them the most: the fourth quarter.
With disciplined play and a smart approach, the Bucks never even allowed the Warriors to threaten in the final frame. Carter-Williams scored the first five points of the period to make the lead seven. He then dished to Monroe to close out the 7-0 run and make the lead an even 10.
After that, the closest the Warriors came was seven. Curry knocked down a three, followed by a layup, but the Bucks were relentless. Antetokounmpo responded with a tough bucket underneath, then dished on consecutive baskets down low from Monroe. The Greek Freak continued his tremendous 2015 season with his first career triple-double: 11 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.
With a minute to go, MCW slapped the exclamation point on the momentous Milwaukee victory. He intercepted a Rush pass and finished with an emphatic one-handed slam on the other end, making it a 15-point Bucks lead and sending the Bradley Center crowd of 18,717 into a frenzy.
“It’s a big win for those young guys in the locker room, the time they put in for these 25 games and effort from start to finish,” J-Kidd told the media. “You can say the crowd was off the charts, too.”
NEXT UP
Milwaukee (10-15) will take the momentum from their home victory over the world champs into the Staples Center to face the Los Angeles Lakers (3-21) Tuesday night.
While the Bucks ended a streak in their last game, they’ll look to keep one going in the next: The Lakers have lost six straight contests and 13 of their previous 14, last winning Dec. 3 against the Washington Wizards.
The Bucks split two meetings with the Lakers last year, where the home team won each time. This contest kicks off a four-game road trip for the Bucks that will include a rematch with the Warriors They’ll then return home for two games for another four away from home, stretching into 2016.
“We have this road trip and another at the end of the month. We have to come together. Coming together means playing together on the floor,” Kidd said. “These guys are starting to do that.”
The game starts at 9:30 p.m. CT on Fox Sports Wisconsin.
RELATED LINKS
