The Milwaukee Bucks picked up their fourth win of the season, taking out an early-season Western Conference contender in the Golden State Warriors 120-110, even without Giannis Antetokounmpo. Ryan Rollins
followed up his impressive performance from Tuesday night with another career day with his first 30-point game, scoring 32 points on 13/21 shooting. Myles Turner had his best game offensively as a Buck with 17 points on 7/12 shooting. Stephen Curry had 27 points on 8/19 shooting to lead the Warriors.
Game Recap
Rollins followed up his career performance on Tuesday night with another fast start against Golden State. He rattled off the first five points with a layup and a three-ball off the dribble, as the Bucks took the lead early. The all-star firepower of the Warriors then came into play, with Draymond Green opening the game with a three, Jimmy Butler getting a layup, and Steph Curry hitting three free throws in the frame. It was a struggle to score offensively for players not named Rollins, as the first field goal made by another Buck was Myles Tumer with 5:40 to go in the quarter. Turner seemingly found his stride as he hit another one from distance, giving the Bucks a six point lead with 5:07 to go in the first. After the Warriors stars showed out early, the role players and bench gave them a boost, with Kuminga hitting back-to-back layups to get the Dubs back within one. After the Warriors retook a one point lead, it was all Bucks for the final 1:40 of the quarter. Milwaukee went on a 10-0 run to take a 34-25 lead heading into the second quarter.
After the Bucks pushed their lead up to as many as 10 points early in the second, the Warriors were able to cut it down to just four rather quickly. Enter Bobby Portis, who came in averaging just eight points per game on well below league-average shooting numbers. During his six and a half minutes on the floor in the quarter, he scored 10 points on 4/6 shooting from the field, including two threes. That microwave performance from Porits put the Bucks up by seven points with 5:26 to go in the first half. Golden State battled behind Kuminga and Butler and got it down to a one-point game with 3:37 to play. After being held without a field goal make in the first quarter, Curry started to heat up with a couple of three-pointers, including one that tied the game with 2:34 to play. The Bucks remained ahead or tied down the stretch, and thanks to a Rollins layup with 40 seconds left, Milwaukee went into the locker room up by two, 60-58.
Things continued to remain close between the two out-of-conference foes in the third quarter. Milwaukee did build up a five point lead early, but in a game against the Warriors, that type of lead doesn’t last long. The Dubs went on a 6-0 run to retake the lead with 8:36 on the game clock. Golden State built a lead as high as three during the stanza, but the Bucks never let it get larger than that. After a nearly two-minute scoring drought between the two sides, Milwaukee made their move as Kuzma and Cole Anthony hit back-to-back threes to take a two-point lead with 3:35 left in the third. The Bucks continued to push the advantage, going on another 6-0 run to take an eight-point lead with 1:21 to go thanks to a Rollins layup. Then an old nemsis rose from the dead, as Butler went on a personal 5-0 run to cut the Bucks lead down to three, 87-84, heading into the fourth quarter.
The mosquito fleet of Rollins and Anthony continued to show why they are a match made in heaven. In the early goings of the quarter, the pair scored the first five points to get the Bucks back up by six. Golden State wouldn’t be put away that early, as Buddy Hield hit back-to-back shots for five points to cut the lead back down to just one, 92-91 Milwaukee. After some back and forth, the Bucks created some breathing room. A 5-0 run by the Bucks got them a seven-point lead with 5:42 to go. The Warriors once again got it back within two points, but the incredible performances from Rollins and Turner helped spark the Bucks once again. Milwaukee would hit four threes in six shots from deep as the crowd from Fiserv popped, with the Bucks leading by 11, 117-106. Golden State made it interesting by getting back within seven, but who else but Rollins would deliver the dagger three.
Stat That Stood Out
What really made a differnce in this game was the defense the Bucks played on Curry all night long. While he did score over 20 points, they didn’t really let him get a rhytm from beyond the arc. While he did finish the game 4/10 from beyond the arc, it wasn’t the range show that Curry usually gives teams. Major credit to Rollins, Anthony, AJ Green, and Trent down the stretch espically to close the door on Curry and the Warriors.
