ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — The Milwaukee Bucks were in town to face the Golden State Warriors, making their first appearance at home after playing 10 of the last 11 games on the road, ending with a close loss to the Nets. The Warriors had everyone available, including Leandro Barbosa who recovered from upper respiratory infection.
1ST QUARTER: Birthday Boy!
Klay Thompson had said in the locker that it was good to be back, and he wasted no time by scoring the first hoop on a drive going left to right.
Andrew Bogut was active again early, although he committed the team’s first turnover with a bad pass going behind his head, trying to hit a cutting Thompson blindly. He also mishandled an interior pass by Draymond Green that eventually resulted in a shotclock violation as Draymond Green — celebrating his 25th birthday tonight — couldn’t find anyone open and was forced to launch a pivot-and-shoot three-pointer which airballed.
But Bogut blocked Giannis Antetokounmpo in the paint, then deflected a pass, leading to a trey by Klay from the left elbow, assisted by Green. After Michael Carter-Williams slipped and lost the ball, Thompson stole it and fed Green for a two-handed slam.
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The Warriors were up early, 9-4, with 8:19 to play in the first quarter.
Both teams traded a few misses, with Harrison Barnes and Stephen Curry clanking their first look at treys, but Bogut made a cut and Curry fed him for another Golden State two-handed slam.
After Bucks shooting guard Khris Middleton drained a left baseline jumper, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr called timeout, up just 11-10 with 6:14 to play.
The “ATO” (after-timeout play) this time was for Barnes, and he got a slam dunk over Antetokounmpo, plus a little pause for a mini-stare-down.
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Curry and Green then took over the scoring chores, hitting three after three. After a miss by Ersan Ilyasova, Barnes drove, hung, and found Steph open on the left elbow, to take a 16-10 lead with 5:31 to go.
After a Middleton miss at point-blank range, blowing a nice lead pass by Zaza Pachulia, Curry got a pull-up triple to fall from the top, thanks to screen-and-roll action from Draymond.
Green took a turn shortly thereafter, getting a trey from the right corner porch to go after Curry wheeled around the left side with the live dribble and lasered the mis-direction pass to the open Green.
After an Ilyasova three from straight-away, Green later got another trey to fall, assisted by Curry. Sensing the antsy #Roaracle crowd about to pop its top off, Bucks head coach Jason Kidd called timeout with 2:47 left, the Warriors up 25-17.
The quarter ended without much fanfare aside from Andre Iguodala missing a twisting and non-looking-at-basket prayer as no whistle was blown on a drive in which he felt he was fouled. Green missed a three-pointer as the shotclock expired, Curry missed a side-step bomb after Pachulia flew by, and Bucks scoring guard off the bench, Jerryd Bayless, missed at the buzzer.
Golden State took a 25-19 lead into the second quarter, holding Milwaukee to just 7-for-24 shooting (29.1%). Green led all scorers with 10 points on 4-for-6 field, 2-for-4 downtown, while Curry added 6 on his two treys and Klay chipped in 5 points.
2ND QUARTER: Warrior Miscues
After David Lee got a high-post spin move stolen by Bucks guard Tyler Ennis, which led to an Ilysova three-pointer, followed by a bad screen by Shaun Livingston, the crowd at Oracle got restless. Chants of “De-fense” began, but the anxious crowd wouldn’t get any spectacular plays, aside from a strong right-handed take by Barnes, from the Dubs for awhile.
With 7:28 to go in the half and Golden State up, 35-31, Festus Ezeli made his first appearance and immediately contributed, getting a steal on a bad pass by Bayless and a post-up jump hook from the right low block to fall.
But even as Pachulia missed twice in a row in the paint, the Warriors’ in-transition attack would result in an airball from the left corner by Thompson, and the Dubs’ paid the price as Bayless streaked down the other end for a layup, and-one with the foul on Livingston, to keep Golden State within reach, just a four-point lead at 40-36, with 4:53 to go.
After the TV timeout, Curry and Green checked back in and the move by Kerr paid immediate dividends, as Livingston’s lob attempt for an Ezeli alley-oop fell a bit short, only to be corralled by Curry on the offensive rebound, who found Green open from the right short porch for three more for the birthday boy.
Ezeli ended his stint with a blocked shot of Taylor Ennis into the baseline seats.
The Warriors gained momentum as Livingston posted up the smaller Middleton, dumped the ball back out to Klay, who drove hard into the paint and gave the ball back to Livingston for the dunk.
After a timeout, Thompson got a slam on a bullet pass from Curry at halfcourt. Green celebrated, and Golden State was suddenly up, 51-38. However, despite another slam dunk fed by Steph, this time to Bogut, to make the score 53-42, Warriors, with 1:47 to play, Milwaukee started to make buckets as Middleton made a baseline jumper from a baseline inbound play after Curry had blocked Carter-Williams, Antetokounmpo hit a fade-away, and Carter-Williams pulled up for a J.
Two bad passes by the Warriors’ stars for the night thus far, Curry and Green, led to free throws by Pachulia and an and-one by Middleton, after an athletic save of a bad pass from Green by Antetokounmpo.
As the half came to a close, Thompson found himself trapped on the right elbow, spinning back to the middle, giving the ball up to Curry, who faked a three-pointer on a close-out by Antetokounmpo, then drove in the paint with Oracle getting nervous about the shotclock about to buzz. Curry missed the banker harmlessly off the board, but he also missed the rim, so it was a shotclock violation with 5.4 ticks remaining.
Kidd called timeout and Carter-Williams then made a pull-up jumper from 23 feet at the left elbow as the horn sounded.
Surprisingly, it was a 53-53 tie ball game at the half. Green and Thompson led the Dubs with 13 points and 3 treys apiece, and Curry had 7 points and 9 assists, but the Bucks had shot 13-for-24 in the period and outrebounded Golden State, 24-16.
Middleton had 11 points and Pachulia had a quiet 10 points, 11 rebounds.
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