Coming off a grueling double-overtime win over the Boston Celtics on Friday night, the Golden State Warriors dropped their first game of the season, 108-95, against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday evening at the BMO Harris Bradley Center, falling to 24-1 on the year.
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There is no denying the fact that four Golden State’s starters were on the bench for the first 5-plus minutes of the final quarter and it forced Warriors’ interim coach Luke Walton call timeout with 6:57 to go and insert his regulars.
Their win streak ends at 24 games, technically 28 if stretched back to the end of last season, just five games shy of the all-time record for consecutive wins.
Interesting enough, when the Lakers were setting that record, it was also Milwaukee who beat them, and stopped their winning streak at 33. We looked like we ran out of gas.
Gregg Popovich anxious about human nature last season with San Antonio for good reason – it’s normal for teams that just won a title to come out flat to start the next regular season.
The Warriors have a few days to recover from their exhausting road trip, ahead of opening a five game homestand against the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday. Perhaps most notably, Golden State did all of these things without their head coach, Steve Kerr, who has been out all season so far while recovering from back surgeries.
Attention on the Warriors and their likable cast of characters, led by MVP sharpshooter Stephen Curry, grew as the victories piled up.
Michael Carter-Williams’ strong drive down the lane and dunk with 42 seconds left put an exclamation point on Milwaukee’s night.
Milwaukee, bottom of the Central Division, was an unlikely candidate to end Golden State’s winning run, but got an all-round effort from the team, led by 28 points from Greg Monroe.
Fueled by the perceived slight that the world saw them as “lucky” – you can thank Doc Rivers for stoking that flame – the Warriors came out playing at a high level with a chip on their shoulder.
“I’m sure the long flight home tomorrow, we’ll have some guys unwinding a bit”, Walton said. “It’s a great win for us”.
Forward Draymond Green, who scored 24 points for the Warriors, said he felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders now that the streak was over. “I think we beat ourselves, especially on my end”.
“What we’re trying to do is be an National Basketball Association championship team, and that requires a lot of work and getting back to the fundamentals and the basics”.
The streak is over, and the Miami Heat know exactly what the Golden State Warriors are going through right now.
Boston snapped Charlotte’s four-game winning streak with a 98-93 road win, moving within one game of Atlantic leader Toronto.
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While the Warriors should feel upbeat about their outlook for the rest of the season, the Carolina Panthers shouldn’t get too carried away with their unbeaten start to the National Football League season.
