The Golden State Warriors thought they were getting a gift on Thursday night, when Milwaukee Bucks superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo was ruled out of their matchup about an hour before tip-off. Instead,
the Warriors got something equally fearful: the revenge game of all revenge games from guard Ryan Rollins. His career night propelled the Bucks to a 120-110 win, and dropped the Warriors to 4-2 on the season … with their two losses coming in arguably their two easiest assignments.
Rollins made it clear from the jump that he came to play. With the brief Damian Lillard era ended, Rollins has turned into the team’s secondary scorer, so with Antetokounmpo sidelined, the young guard was driving the vehicle. He attacked the rim on the first possession of the game for a layup, then drained a triple on the second possession.
It was a quick statement from the player whom the Warriors drafted 44th overall in 2022, but traded after his rookie year to help get off of Jordan Poole’s contract. And it was a statement he would revisit and re-emphasize throughout the night.
Despite Rollins’ hot start, the Warriors were in good position early. The offense was flowing well in the opening minutes, with a good combination of ball movement and individuals beating their defender to create openings. But after a promising few minutes, the Warriors shots went cold. That was followed by a handful of miscommunications that served as painful reminders that it’s still very early in the season. And that was followed by an inability to get good shots off at all. Back-to-back threes by Myles Turner gave Milwaukee a 20-13 lead with about five minutes remaining, and made it clear that the Bucks were here to play.
Jonathan Kuminga, who had nine points on 4-for-4 shooting in the frame, brought the Warriors back into it, but the difference in shooting was too much for Golden State to overcome. The Bucks ended the quarter on a blitz to take a 34-25 lead, and had shot 5-for-9 from deep; the Dubs, meanwhile, were just 2-for-12.
The deficit quickly turned to double figures in the second quarter, but the Warriors were at least being more aggressive. A young lineup led by Brandin Podziemski, Gui Santos, and Will Richard brought the team endless amounts of energy, and the Warriors had a copious amount of runs in them. But every time they got close to tying or taking the lead, the Bucks would answer with a run of their own. Near the halfway mark of the quarter, Steph Curry drained a three, which was his first field goal of the game. That got some life in his game, as he and Kuminga kept pulling the Warriors close, only for the Bucks to answer.
They never did fully catch up in the frame, but it was anyone’s contest going into the break, with Milwaukee leading just 60-58.
The Warriors finally got over the hump early in the third quarter, as a layup by Curry with 8:38 remaining gave them the lead. But Rollins responded in full, returning the lead to the Bucks. The teams were trading baskets, leads, and momentum, as they took turns feeling in control. Golden State just couldn’t seem to ever really run away with the game, and that left the door open for Rollins and the Bucks.
Finally, Milwaukee seized the opportunity. With the Warriors going ice cold with both Curry and Kuminga on the bench, the Bucks rattled off a 12-0 run to take control of the game. Thankfully for the Dubs, they still employ Jimmy Butler III, who put the team on his back in the final minute of the quarter, scoring five points on a brilliant two-for-one, and leaving the Warriors trailing just 87-84 entering the fourth.
Steve Kerr showed urgency by having Curry start the fourth quarter, which is a break from his normal substitution pattern, though he would get a rest a few minutes later. The game had ground to a halt and turned into a grind-it-out affair, and that favored Milwaukee on this night. Golden State simply couldn’t make a shot, and when they were able to get a stop, they had a hard time grabbing rebounds.
It felt — and this is not to make excuses — like nothing was bouncing the Warriors way. The Bucks’ misses often ricocheted right to them, the refs seemed to miss a few calls — nothing egregious, just frustrating — and every loose ball appeared to carom in the wrong direction. That’s just the way it goes sometime.
And along the way, Rollins scored and scored and scored some more, taking total control of the game, while the Warriors, increasingly frantic, couldn’t stop turning the ball over. Finally, with 2:07 remaining, Rollins nailed what felt like a dagger: a three-pointer to make it an 11-point game.
The Dubs had some fight though. Kuminga scored quickly on one end, then they forced a steal that led to a Butler layup in transition, which was followed by forcing a shot clock violation. They had created a sliver of an opening, but even though Kuminga got to the rim on the next possession, he couldn’t finish and didn’t get the foul call. Golden State had one last chance after forcing an eight-second violation on the ensuing possession, but Curry missed a three a few seconds later, and that sealed their fate.
