For the first time in months, Golden State was back to full strength and showed off its depth and talented bench, giving Antetokounmpo a lot of looks.
The Warriors easily defeated the Bucks 125-90 on Wednesday night, led by 29 points from Stephen Curry and 20 from Kuminga. This was the Warriors’ first loss since the All-Star break.
He’s a fantastic player and difficult to contain. Bravo to us for attempting to restrain him,” Jackson-Davis remarked. “I’ve never encountered someone with that level of length.”
Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard led a 19–5 run to begin the third quarter, bringing the Bucks back into the game after they had been behind by 20 at the half. However, Curry, who also finished with eight rebounds and five assists, went to work once more.
In addition to matching his own career best of 15 points, Jackson-Davis was responsible for four of Golden State’s 13 blocked shots this season. Kuminga knocked out three more.
Due to left Achilles tendinitis, Antetokounmpo was doubtful before the game but finished with 23 points and seven rebounds in Monday night’s victory at home against the Clippers.
“We definitely needed everyone to guard that guy, as it takes a village,” Kerr remarked.
This was Lillard’s first game back at Chase Center after being traded by the rival Trail Blazers to the Bucks last October. He ended with 20 points, five 3-pointers, and six assists. For the Bucks, Bobby Portis added 20 points as well.The Warriors enjoyed their largest lead at halftime this season, leading 78-58 at the break thanks to two late 3-pointers from Green, who finished with 12 points overall. Klay Thompson scored 10 points off the bench.
Milwaukee had won six straight games coming out of the All-Star break, holding opponents below 110 points in four of those games. Despite having the best defensive rating in the league since the break, Milwaukee suffered its first defeat in that time.
Coach Doc Rivers stated, “I really didn’t think this was our defense, I thought it was our offense.” “I didn’t think we had good оffensive play the entire evening.”
The Bucks lost the opportunity to match their season-long winning run of seven games, which they had from December 11 to December 23. On January 13, Milwaukee defeated the Warriors 129-118 at home, their eighth straight victory.With Curry making two of his first five shots and Golden State starting 11 for 16, the Warriors scored 40 points in the first quarter for the second time this season—it was their ninth 40-point period overall. Their third-quarter total of 15 points tied the season low for any quarter.
In the fourth, Golden State defeated the Bucks 32–9.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Bucks hadn’t been held to nine points or fewer in any quarter since they scored only eight points in the opening quarter against Miami on December 22, 2018, and hadn’t been restricted to nine points or fewer in the closing frame since they scored nine points against Toronto on February 2, 2015.
With Curry shooting 2 of 13 and 0 of 9 from beyond the arc on Sunday, the Warriors recovered from their 140-88 loss in Boston on Sunday.
After missing four games due to a family issue, Golden State forward Andrew Wiggins returned, although he only played 14 minutes as the Warriors won for the fourteenth time in their previous eighteen games.
The Warriors honored former general manager Bob Myers, who was working the broadcast and had his three children present, during a second-quarter stoppage.
Next up
Bucks: Play the Lakers in Los Angeles on Friday night as part of their remaining four games in California.