MILWAUKEE (AP) The Golden State Warriors walked slowly off the Bradley Center floor, exchanging handshakes with the victorious Milwaukee Bucks on the way back to their locker room. The NBA’s longest winning streak is 33 by the Los Angeles Lakers in 1971-72 – and it was also snapped by Milwaukee. Probably the last seven or eight games, we’ve stopped getting better, and we’ve just tried to win games. Some were inclined to include the four straight games the Warriors won at the end of the 2014-15 regular season; others, with a more purist view, thought the streak should be measured in games from one season only.
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Green was one of the most efficient shooters for Golden State, hitting 9 of 14 shots and scoring 24 points while adding 11 rebounds. They flew out of Milwaukee with seven weeks of fond memories that can’t be eclipsed by a single, streaks-snapping loss to the Bucks — and also the knowledge that the novelty is over and it’s time a bit of self-evaluation.
Still, to pick at them any more would seem out of line.
The Warriors shot just 40.9% from the field (36 of 88) and a season-low 23.1% from three-point distance (6 of 26).
The Bucks had an answer both times.
The Warriors’ defense was starting to slip, Walton said.
It’s tempting to make excuses for the Warriors though, arguing they were beaten by fatigue and the schedule rather than their opponents.
“Losing still sucks”, said Warriors’ interim coach Luke Walton. The home-road factor is in their favor, as only 10 of these first 25 games took place at home, where they went 39-2 last season.
Monroe, the free-agent center from Detroit who chose Milwaukee over NY and Los Angeles, scored 11 points in the fourth quarter, thriving against the champs’ bigs and, more impressively, their smalls.
The Warriors’ record now matches what appeared on the shirts that a group of Bucks fans wore to the game: 24-1. They are now responsible for ending the two longest winning streaks in National Basketball Association history.
Parker was extremely active in 28 minutes and Antetokounmpo posted his first career triple-double (11 points, 12 rebounds, career-best 10 assists).
A miserly San Antonio gave up only 25 Atlanta points in the first half to lay the foundation for a 103-78 win at the Hawks. This was already Milwaukee’s seventh game of the month, while this was Golden State’s sixth. The Warriors also got 24 points and 11 rebounds from Draymond Green.
The Celtics bounced back from a draining double-overtime loss to Golden State on Friday night.
“We wanted to come out with a lot of effort and energy”, said Monroe. But with that being said we need to get back to some of the things we were doing. After Golden State’s try at an alley-oop off the inbounds pass failed, Boston had the ball with 0.7 seconds left, but Kelly Olynyk’s off-balance jumper was wide.
The Bucks are hopeful that one special night can propel them to better days as they head west for a week (they’ll face Golden State again in Oakland on Friday).
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“It’s important for us to realize that, hey, that was great… but we’re a quarter of the way through the regular season”.
