ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Milwaukee Bucks at the Golden State Warriors.
The Bucks took a 70-58 lead into halftime.
3rd Quarter – Bucks Stay Resilient
Festus Ezeli got the start in the third quarter and did well to impact the game, with two inside buckets and a trip to the free throw line on a third attempt at the rim, but he missed both free throws.
Still, Michael Carter-Williams, Khris Middleton, and Greg Monroe put on the pressure as they continued to make buckets as they had in the first half.
Middleton’s three put the Bucks up by a eye-popping 15 points against the world champs, 75-60, within the first minute of play.
But Brandon Rush came to the rescue for the Warriors, drilling a triple after Draymond Green fed Ezeli with a nice in-transition bounce-pass, and Festus, off-balance yet showing off his newly improved dexterity, found Rush:
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Rush hit another from long-distance, although this time his foot was on the line, again found by Ezeli from inside:
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Rush later got a steal then led the fastbreak, surveyed the situation as the Bucks drew attention off the ball to Curry, and finished with a layup, keeping the ball. Green trailed and almost offensive goaltended. Kidd was livid, screamed at the refs, and called timeout, with the officials not giving the Bucks the call they wanted.
The Warriors pulled to within 79-71 with 7:39 to go in the third.
After Monroe missed two jumpers, Thompson found himself iso’ed on the left wing against O.J. Mayo and took him strong to the hole for the layup, but Curry got called for another traveling violation as he tried an upfake and a pass all in one motion, his fourth turnover of the game.
Mayo drilled a three on a swing pass after Monroe got his 11th rebound, but Monroe fouled Green on the screen for Mayo.
Thompson made the Bucks pay with a catch-and-shoot three delivered by Curry the next time down:
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After Mayo missed from distance, Klay tried a heat-check pull-up but the ball hit back-iron and over the board out of bounds, but Middleton missed a jumper, then Curry probed the left side, found Parker helping after turning the corner, and retreated to the left corner for a three, falling into the Milwaukee bench:
Curry getting silly: pic.twitter.com/agyelMzqvL
— Josh Lander (@JILProductions) December 19, 2015
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The shot would later be overturned into a two-pointer by replay rule at the next timeout.
Still, Oracle was on its feet, the Warriors now back within striking distance, 81-79, with 4:33 remaining.
Walton rolled the dice with James McAdoo off the bench for Ezeli, Green got called for a questionable off-ball foul while dishing back to Curry for a three that went through the hoop (and didn’t count, of course), and McAdoo paid dividends when he got a two-handed dunk after Steph corralled the rebound from Parker’s ensuing miss.
With 3:26 to go in the third, Kidd called timeout and the Warriors were back within three, 83-80, after the official ruling on Curry’s shot.
After Monroe missed two jumpers, Thompson found himself iso’ed on the left wing against O.J. Mayo and took him strong to the hole for the layup, but Curry got called for another traveling violation as he tried an upfake and a pass all in one motion, his fourth turnover of the game.
Mayo drilled a three on a swing pass after Monroe got his 11th rebound, but Monroe fouled Green on the screen for Mayo.
Thompson made the Bucks pay with a catch-and-shoot three delivered by Curry the next time down.
After Mayo missed from distance, Klay tried a heat-check pull-up but the ball hit back-iron and over the board out of bounds, but Middleton missed a jumper, then Curry probed the left side, found Parker helping after turning the corner, and retreated to the left corner for a three, falling into the Milwaukee bench.
The shot would later be overturned into a two-pointer by replay rule at the next timeout.
Still, Oracle was on its feet, the Warriors now back within striking distance, 81-79, with 4:33 remaining.
Walton rolled the dice with James McAdoo off the bench for Ezeli, Green got called for a questionable off-ball foul while dishing back to Curry for a three that went through the hoop (and didn’t count, of course), and McAdoo paid dividends when he got a two-handed dunk after Steph corralled the rebound from Parker’s ensuing miss.
With 3:26 to go in the third, Kidd called timeout and the Warriors were back within three, 83-80, after the official rulling on Curry’s shot.
The young Bucks showed their resiliency yet again, however, as Carter-Williams drilled a three after the timeout with Green collapsing and daring him to shoot.
Green answerd with a catch-and-shoot three via Andre Iguodala, then McAdoo got a block leading to Green free throws, but Iguodala committed another questionable traveling call per the officials…
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…then missed a layup, Parker got an “and-one” the other way, drawing the foul on McAdoo, and the Bucks went back up, 91-83, with 42.9 seconds to go in the quarter.
A Carter-Williams floater in the lane made it 93-83 at the end of the third frame.
4th Quarter – Warriors Surge
McAdoo continued his great spot play off the bench with a running jumphook:
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…but Giannis Antetokuonmpo answered, then Miles Plumlee got an offensive rebound, and Mayo got a floater to drop and the Bucks were up, 100-89.
With 8:54 to play, Walton re-inserted his starters, except with Ezeli in place of Bogut.
Golden State made a push, with Green getting an “and-one” down the right side past Johnny O’Bryant III.
Curry then found himself converged upon by the entire Bucks squad and found Green on the break:
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Plumlee got a putback dunk attempt blocked by Green, and Draymond trailed the play for this three-pointer from the top, assisted by Rush…
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…and the Warriors pulled to within three, 100-97, with 6:36 to go as Kidd called another timeout.
Out of the timeout, Carter-Williams missed a fade-away, then fouled Curry from the beyond the arc and Steph tied the game with three free throws and 6:09 left.
Antetokuonmpo made a putback dunk on a Monroe miss, but Green played “tic-tac-toe” with Curry and Ezeli, and the Warriors took the lead as he dunked the ball through:
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Middleton missed again from distance, and Curry went strong to the hole, got fouled, and beckoned #Roaracle:
Steph wants you to get on your feet. #Warriors lead the Bucks by two with 3:00 to go on KNBR 680 now! pic.twitter.com/KBGlS5Ym4R
— KNBR (@KNBR) December 19, 2015
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He missed the second free throw, but the Warriors were up now, 104-102, with 4:45 remaining.
Curry traded punches with Antetokuonmpo and Monroe, and Walton took a timeout after Steph deflected a pass and was fouled on the change of possession with 1:56 remaining with Golden State up 110-108.
Warriors chants ensued, Curry made free throws, Middleton lost the ball out of bounds, and Iguodala found himself wide open in the left corner. Curry found him on the dribble drive and Andre calmly knocked down the triple and Golden State had a nail in the coffin, up 115-108 with just 1:21 to go.
Middleton missed another triple, Klay got the rebound, fouling out Antetokuonmpo, Parker fouled Ezeli off the ball, although the refs for some reason did not invoke the “Shaq” rule and award the Warriors two shots and the ball, and Ezeli missed both free throws.
However, Curry snagged the second miss and, even though he immediately got whistled for a double-dribble for his sixth turnover of the game, the win was well in hand.
The Bucks ran out of time and out of shots, and the Warriors (26-1) closed out with a 121-112 victory. They will play the Utah Jazz at Oracle in five nights.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @kewhite1010)
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