The Milwaukee Bucks put the Golden State Warriors into a torture rack in Oakland, winning handily 116-107. The Bucks came into this game wrestling for playoff seeding in the Eastern Conference, while the defending champs were without the services of the “Splash Bros” Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.
Kevin Durant had 10 points in his first game back since suffering a rib injury, but was ejected right before the half for arguing over a no-call. Draymond Green returned from his flu problems, and looked his normal self, tallying 11 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds. Quinn Cook continued his stellar play, scoring a career high 30 points!
Giannis Antetokoumpo was absolutely ferocious on both ends, tallying 32 points, and disrupting the Warriors offense with his length. His physical defense certainly played into Durant’s frustrations. Khris Middleton chipped in 23 points, and Eric Bledsoe added 20 points and 3 steals.
First Half
What if I told you the Dubs shot 57 percent from the field (66% from beyond the arc!), outrebounded the Bucks (16 to 15), and had more assists (15 to 14) after two quarters? In addition, what if I informed you Cook lit up the Bucks for 11 points early, going perfect from the arc (3-of-3)?
You would probably assume the champs were in good shape at home. Nope! The Warriors coughed up 15 turnovers, with Durant responsible for 4 of them.
If that weren’t bad enough, KD didn’t react well to getting hacked repeatedly by the physical Bucks defense. As the clock dwindled down on the Warriors final possession of the first half, Durant lit up a referee for not calling a foul on his heavily contested drive.
Kevin Durant has been ejected from tonight's game pic.twitter.com/3kN8r3PPfI
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) March 30, 2018
Kevin Durant's ejections by season his 11 years
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) March 30, 2018
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5 this season
Wow. Milwaukee went on an 11-0 run in the last two minutes of the half to take a 58-49 lead, as Durant headed for the showers early.
Second Half
The Bucks stretched their lead to 20, but the Dubs persevered to keep the game from spiraling completely out of control.
NOPE
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) March 30, 2018
YUP @JaValeMcGee doin' work! @NBCSAuthentic! pic.twitter.com/I7B1sW8SO6
Eventually in the third quarter, the Dubs offense devolved into wildly attacking the rim, looking for foul calls. They barely got any, and they struggled putting points on the board. Encouragingly, Patrick McCaw was one of the more aggressive Warriors, and he got downhill on the defense repeatedly. Kevon Looney also showed off his growing defensive prowess, picking Antetokoumpo’s pocket on one drive, and finishing with three blocks.
Milwaukee could not afford to lose this game with playoff seeding on the line, and made sure to rebuff the Warriors “B”-squad down the stretch. Still, Cook showed heart and a beautiful touch on offense.
Final
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) March 30, 2018
Quinn - 30p/4r/3a
Pat - 12p/3r/3a
JaVale - 12p/2b
Draymond - 11p/5r/6a
Kevin - 10p/6a
Shaun - 9p/2s
Kevon - 8p/4r/3b
D-West - 8p
Nick - 5p
Moving On
Some encouraging play from the youngsters, and it was good to see Durant and Green on the court together...if only for a half LOL.
Andre Iguodala out the rest of the night with left knee soreness, per Warriors. Add it to the list. He seemed to bang it on a drive earlier.
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) March 30, 2018
Also, the Rockets officially clinched the number one seed, as we’ve been expecting this month. Our next game is Saturday in Sacramento versus the Kings. Let’s see if head coach Steve Kerr benches Cook for the rest of the season to keep him in bubble wrap for the playoffs.