nail-biter loss to the LA Clippers on Monday<\/a> that was all defense, this game was all offense in the early going. Moses Moody hit a three on the team\u2019s first possession and Quinten Post drained one on their second, and the offense was off and running. Unfortunately, that was also the case for the Bucks, who were scoring just as easily. Displeased with the defensive effort, Steve Kerr called a timeout at the 6:41 mark in the first quarter, with the Bucks leading 19-13.<\/p>\nWhatever Kerr said worked, as the Dubs bit down on defense and found their groove again on offense, rattling off nine straight points in response. After the teams exchanged defensive blows, it was back to a high-scoring affair, with Curry dropping in 10 points in the frame, and former Warrior Ryan Rollins \u2014 who had a career game against his old team earlier this year \u2014 once again showing off and showing out. The Warriors survived their minutes without Steph Curry, but the Bucks survived theirs without Giannis Antetokounmpo as neither team could gain control. Golden State closed with a two-big lineup \u2014 Post and Al Horford \u2014 and the teams were knotted at 31 points when the quarter came to a close.<\/p>\n
The offense took another step forward to start the second quarter. Golden State was pushing in transition and making the extra pass. You could practically feel Steve Kerr smiling through the TV as the players and the ball flew around the court with intention.<\/p>\n
Most importantly, the Warriors did what they couldn\u2019t do in the first quarter, and took advantage of Antetokounmpo\u2019s prolonged absence. The two-time MVP isn\u2019t quite playing full minutes following his recent injury (he played just under 31 minutes in this game), and his first stint on the bench spanned a good chunk of time at the end of the first and start of the second. And in that latter half of his bench time, the Warriors finally took advantage, and suddenly they looked like the much better team. A brilliant sequence by Horford \u2014 who blocked a shot on one end of the court and drained a three on the other \u2014 gave the Dubs a double-digit lead at the 8:30 mark of the frame.<\/p>\n
The offense was looking gorgeous, but Antetokounmpo started to take over when he returned to the court. He and Kevin Porter Jr. had pulled the Bucks to within three points with just under 2:30 remaining in the half, when perhaps the most important play of the game occurred. Jimmy Butler III, closing quarters as he does so well, was acutely aware of both how dominant Antetokounmpo had been, and that he had two fouls. So Butler worked his magic and baited Antetokounmpo into a shooting foul that would send Milwaukee\u2019s star to the bench for the rest of the half.<\/p>\n
That sparked the Warriors. With Giannis not being able to bother the Warriors with his explosive offense or his athletic defense, the Dubs absolutely pummeled the Bucks, going on an immediate 11-0 run to take total control of the game. Milwaukee was able to end the half with a highlight, when AJ Green ended the Golden State run with a three in the waning seconds, but even so, it was a 64-53 advantage entering halftime.<\/p>\n
The first few minutes of the third quarter always feel like the most critical part of an NBA game, especially a game where one team has a sizable lead. Those third-quarter runs are real, and you\u2019ll get a chance to see whether the trailing team is going to get right back in it and make things interesting, or if they\u2019re going to wilt away.<\/p>\n
This game was an exception to that rule. Milwaukee came out of the gates firing, but it didn\u2019t portend a close second half. Instead, the Bucks merely shrunk the gap, and then the Warriors rapidly expanded it. Milwaukee got very close within the first few minutes, and then Curry went off, with a vintage flurry, resulting in 16 points in the quarter. Everyone followed Curry\u2019s lead: Butler made big shots, Green played absolutely stunning defense, Brandin Podziemski did a little bit of everything, Post and Moody had huge moments, Horford and De\u2019Anthony Melton played like the trusty veterans they are, and Gui Santos \u2014 taking the minutes of the injured Gary Payton II \u2014 flew all over the court. The Warriors were in complete control, and coasted into the fourth quarter with a 98-82 advantage.<\/p>\n
Even so, the Bucks still weren\u2019t going away. They kept flirting with getting back into the game, while Curry watched from the bench waiting in case he needed to save the day. Finally it looked like Golden State had put a stamp on things when Green made back-to-back threes around the halfway mark, which pushed the lead back to 15 points.<\/p>\n
But the Bucks kept responding, even as Green, Butler, and eventually Curry answered back. It was a tremendous display by Milwaukee, as the Bucks seemed to make more and more difficult shots as the fourth quarter progressed. They\u2019d make a shot, the Warriors would respond by defending better, they\u2019d make another shot, and the cycle went on and on.<\/p>\n
Still, the Warriors maintained a semi-comfortable lead, while running out a closing lineup of Curry, Green, Butler, Melton, and Santos, and then swapping Santos for Moody. Eventually, Milwaukee\u2019s ability to hit outrageous shots faded, and even though Golden State\u2019s offense was officially leaking oil at that point, they\u2019d banked a big enough lead. With about 30 seconds remaining, Curry hit an absurd step-back jumper to push the lead to nine, then hit the Bucks with his night-night celebration. That was all she wrote.<\/p>\n
After their struggles shooting the ball in Los Angeles, the Warriors had a much-needed strong night shooting, as they made 49.4% of their field goals (44-for-89) and, more importantly, 38.3% of their threes (18-for-47). But the shooting marks weren\u2019t the most important stat for Golden State: the turnovers were. It\u2019s no secret that the Warriors biggest enemy is their own inability to take care of the ball, and on Wednesday they had just 10 turnovers (one of which was a shot-clock violation when they were milking the clock late in the game). It was an excellent showing from their often-sloppy star playmakers in that regard, as Curry and Green had just one turnover apiece.<\/p>\n
Curry paced the Warriors with 31 points on 12-for-21 shooting (3-for-9 from beyond the arc), and added six rebounds and seven assists. Butler scored 21 and Green 14, though their biggest contributions came from passing the ball and defending.<\/p>\n
But the most exciting news for the Warriors \u2014 other than the lack of turnovers \u2014 was the performance of the bench. Melton and Horford were exactly who the Dubs thought they would be getting when they signed the proven veterans, as each had a standout game. Melton had his best shooting performance of the year, dropping in 22 points on 8-for-12 shooting, including 5-for-9 from deep. Horford was equally sensational, with eight points on six shots, 10 rebounds, six assists, two blocks, and incredible defense. Podziemski and Santos only had two points apiece, but the former had six rebounds, four assists, and finished with a game-high +19, while the latter played very strong defense, made the smart plays, and was +12. With Payton sidelined, the Warriors played a 10-man rotation, as Jonathan Kuminga, Buddy Hield, Pat Spencer, and Trayce Jackson-Davis all received DNP-CDs.<\/p>\n
Despite incredible defense from Green, Antetokounmpo was dominant as usual, finishing with 34 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists, while shooting 15-for-22 from the field. Rollins had 16 points and Porter 15, as six different Milwaukee players finished with double figures.<\/p>\n
With the win, the Warriors improved to 20-18, and they still get seven more games before their extended residency at the Chase Center takes a break. They\u2019ll be back in action on Friday night when they host the Sacramento Kings at 7:00 p.m. PT.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Golden State Warriors are at a critical juncture in their season. They\u2019ve been treading water all year…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":524568,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[7,6,52132],"class_list":{"0":"post-524567","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-warriors-scores"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115858778769623286","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=524567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/524568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=524567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=524567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=524567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}