In the second game of their four-game trip, the Milwaukee Bucks went down to the Golden State Warriors 120-113. Giannis was the Bucks’ best player with 34 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists. Steph Curry led the Warriors with 31 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists.
Game Recap
Giannis got going early, scoring seven of the Bucks’ first 11 points; he slashed for the dunk off the KPJ dime, nailed the wing triple, and then hit a mid-range pull-up. Then it was Ryan Rollins and Kevin Porter
Jr. picking up the scoring load, scoring the next 7 points to put the Bucks up 19-13 in the early stages—Dubs timeout. The Warriors responded out of the break with a 7-0 spurt, powered mostly by Steph Curry’s brilliance from inside and out. From there, Giannis subbed out and it was the Rollins/KPJ backcourt who held serve for the visitors, with the latter nailing a three in the dying seconds to tie the game at 31 after one.
The Warriors, as they have been wont to do over the last decade, went nuclear from three to open the second, knocking down five bombs in the first four (or so) minutes, giving them their first major edge of the game, up 46-35. The Bucks would score just two points in over three minutes, with Giannis subbing back in and ending the drought at the 7:30 mark. GA would score four more times over the ensuing minutes to have the Bucks within three, 53-50, with under three minutes left, getting chippy with Draymond Green in the process. Unfortunately, Giannis had to leave the game for the final few minutes, and Golden State capitalised, going on an 11-3 run to close. The Dubs scored 15 points off nine Bucks turnovers up to that point, and were up up 64-53 at half in part because of it.
Milwaukee opened the third with a well-executed “77” (double screen up top) set with KPG, Giannis, and Turner; KPJ came off hard, and Giannis’ roll gravity opened Turner for the triple. Myles then made a nice pass to GA for the dunk, followed by the big fella making his second three of the night—Bane celebration put to good use with Milwaukee within three, 66-63. Unfortunately, things went sour from there, with Curry getting off the chain and pushing the lead back out to double digits. Curry then went out, which paved the way for new Warriors De’Anthony Melton and Al Horford to make some backbreaking triples, and before you knew it, the Dubs’ lead had swelled to 16, 98-82, after three.
Kyle Kuzma and Bobby Portis kept the Bucks within shouting distance with three long-distance hits early in the final frame, down 104-92 at about the eight-minute mark. A Jimmy Butler bucket was immediately answered by an AJ Green three off the inverted pick-and-roll with Giannis to bring the lead down to 11, 106-95, halfway through the fourth. But of course, noted shooter Draymond Green nailed consecutive bombs right after; that was when you knew it wasn’t Milwaukee’s night. The Bucks made a late push, with Turner and Green making key shots and the team playing elite defence, but it just wasn’t enough. Warriors win.
Stat That Stood Out
The second quarter really killed the Bucks, as they were outscored 33-22 in the period.
