Giddy Bucks fans at the packed Bradley Center erupted with cheers after the final buzzer.
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Their NBA-record start ended after 24 wins when the Milwaukee Bucks beat them 108-95 on Saturday night.
The Warriors’ winning streak is the third longest in a single season behind the Los Angeles Lakers, who won 33 in a row in 1971-72, while the Miami Heat won 27 in a row in 2013. Its 28-game winning streak, counting the final four games of last season, came to a halt.
“Losing sucks even if you are 24-1”, Luke Walton, the Warriors interim head coach, said of the stunning loss to the lowly Bucks, the team at the bottom of the Central Division and an unlikely candidate to end Golden State’s winning run. “We looked like we ran out of gas”.
Walton, filling in for Steve Kerr, who had back surgery, said his players should be proud.
“I just told the guys that now we can have a regular season”, forward Draymond Green said in recounting his talk to teammates in the locker room after the loss Saturday night to the Milwaukee Bucks. With Stephen Curry & Co. dazzling and dominating, they created the kind of pre-Christmas basketball buzz that we don’t often see this time of year. “Because at the end of the day, you got to wake up, or stay up”. 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. And they still have Steph Curry, the greatest player in the league.
The Wizards (10-12) snapped an 11-game losing streak to Dallas.
Detroit’s Reggie Jackson had 21 points as the Pistons beat IN 118-96.
Jackson also dished out nine assists while backcourt partner Kentavious Caldwell-Pope approached a triple-double with 18 points, seven rebounds and a career-high eight assists. Klay Thompson, returning after missing a game with a sprained ankle, was 4 of 14 for 12 points. The Warriors were taken to two overtimes the previous night against the Celtics. They have shot below 41 percent just once this season (Friday against the Celtics) and just three times in 2014-15.
The Los Angeles Clippers led nearly wire to wire for their first-ever win in Brooklyn, defeating the Nets 105-100 at Barclays Center. Playing on their own back-to-back, the Bucks hit shots they normally miss, gave the Warriors real trouble with their length and relentlessly attacked in transition, scoring a sensational 24 points off turnovers.
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The Warriors captivated pro sports across the season’s first two months. Michael Carter-Williams also performed well late, adding 11 points and 3 steals. Eleven points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists. “The last week or so, with the road trip and things we just found ways to win but I don’t think we ever played our A-plus game”.
