The Milwaukee Bucks played about as well as they could have, and still fell 124-121 to the Golden State Warriors Saturday at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
With 10.1 seconds left, Draymond Green deflected an in-bounds and Klay Thompson wound up with the steal. Thompson sank both free throws and the Warriors escaped with their seventh win in a row. They’re now 11-2 on the season.
The Bucks came charging back and cut the lead to 122-120 with 2:33 left in the fourth quarter. The Warriors lost their composure down the stretch, where turnovers nearly cost them the game and the offense looked out of sync. Milwaukee’s young power duo of Jabari Parker (28 points) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (30 points) were both dominant down the stretch — Antetokounmpo stuffed Green’s go-ahead layup attempt with 55 seconds left.
For most of the night, it was the Kevin Durant show in Wisconsin. KD poured in 33 points on 10/17 shooting. It was Durant’s fifth 30th point game so far this season and his field goal percentage is still sitting at 57.1 percent 13 games into the season. His crossover and aggressive takes to the bucket have become staples to this Warriors offense.
There was a momentary cause for concern when Durant rolled his ankle in the third quarter, but the 28-year-old remained in the game.
“It’s a little stinger, it’s all good,” Durant told the CSN broadcast after the game.
The Warriors initially began pulling away from the Bucks in the third quarter using an unlikely contributor: JaVale McGee. The athletic big man came in a provided a spark off the bench, helping turn a thee-point lead into an 11-point advantage by the end of the quarter. Thompson also scored 18 of his 29 points in the quarter.
The Bucks shot 67 percent in the first quarter, went on a 21-5 run, and mostly held Steph Curry in check (20 points, 1/11 from three) yet it still wasn’t enough to stop the Warriors.
Andre Iguodala and David West both had productive nights off the bench. Iguodala scored 10 points while West added some much needed physicality down low, ending with 7 points and 7 rebounds.
Golden State improved their record to 35-7 when playing in the second game of a back-to-back since the start of the 2014-15 season.