Warriors 124, Bucks 121: No magic this time as rally falls short
Small ball is the way the Golden State Warriors play.
The Milwaukee Bucks went small in the fourth quarter and nearly beat the Warriors at their own game, only to come up short in a 124-121 loss before an enthused sellout crowd of 18,717 at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
Milwaukee rallied from a 14-point fourth quarter deficit and had several chances to tie or take the lead but could not knock off the Warriors for a second straight year at home. Last December the Bucks ended the Warriors' 24-0 run to open the season, handing them their first defeat.
Giannis Antetokounmpo made a sensational late block at the rim on Draymond Green, but the Greek Freak missed on a drive for a possible tying basket and Green had a huge steal a few moments later.
Kevin Durant finished with a game-high 33 points and the Warriors (11-2) won their seventh in a row and improved to 3-0 on their current road swing, which concludes at Indiana on Monday. Klay Thompson scored 25 of his 29 points in the second half and made two clinching free throws with 8.5 seconds left to give Golden State a four-point lead.
BOX SCORE: Warriors 124, Bucks 121
STATISTICS: Milwaukee Bucks' 2016-'17 stats
Curry added 20 points despite hitting just 1 of 11 from three-point range.
"We have to make this a habit, to give this effort in every game," Antetokounmpo said. "We're working on it.
"When you have a lot of fans watching the game and a lot of supporters, you get that energy. It would be good if a lot of people come and watched us play, because you feed off that."
The Bucks pulled within 122-120 on a three-point play by Jabari Parker with 2:33 left. Antetokounmpo's block on Green gave the Bucks a chance to tie or take the lead, but Antetokounmpo missed after Milwaukee called a timeout with 35 seconds remaining and 4 seconds left on the shot clock. Durant missed a jumper and the Bucks had another chance after a timeout with 10.1 seconds left, but Green alertly stoled the inbounds pass from Tony Snell and the Bucks fouled Thompson.
"I already knew what play they were running," Green said. "They have two plays they run in situations like that.
"Once Giannis was down on the block, I was just waiting for them to pass the ball in. I wanted to make it tough and make Tony Snell think about it. I knew once he thought about it that he would throw a lob pass. Then I just went after the ball."
Antetokounmpo led the Bucks (5-7) with 30 points and had six assists while playing 41 minutes. Parker added 28 points, five rebounds and five assists. Matthew Dellavedova had 10 points and five assists.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr joked before the game he would buy two tickets for a Golden State home game for any Bucks fan wearing a "10-3" shirt, a reference to the "24-1" shirts that dotted the crowd last year.
But there was no repeat upset even though the Bucks shot nearly 60% from the field in the first half, only to trail, 69-66, at intermission.
Mirza Teletovic played in the small-ball lineup in the fourth quarter and thought it played a role in the Bucks comeback.
"I think we went back to the basics, started driving the ball and kicking the ball out," Teletovic said. "When we play the right way, I think we can beat anybody.
"I talked to the coaches and they always tell me to be ready. That's what I'm going to be doing."
Teletovic went 1 for 5 from the floor, all on three-pointers, and missed a wide-open three from the top of the arc that would have given the Bucks a one-point lead.
"I thought Jason (Kidd) went really small to start the fourth quarter," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "I thought that really got their team back in the game.
"Just the threat of Teletovic shooting a three made a difference out there. I think he made one or two, but the threat changed the game. It opened up the floor. We were kind of sitting on the lead instead of trying to extend it."
Teletovic played the entire fourth quarter after not playing earlier in the game and Antetokounmpo played at center. The 6-11 Antetokounmpo also played at center in the second half Wednesday at Atlanta as the Bucks mounted a comeback.
"You look at him being 7 feet tall, it gives you different options," Kidd said. "Him playing center was not a problem tonight."
Milwaukee lost its third straight game. It continues the three-game homestand against Orlando on Monday night.
THREE TAKEAWAYS
1. Kidd said before the game he would go with two centers and John Henson would start. Miles Plumlee came off the bench as the second center, but Greg Monroe did play 2 minutes in the first half when both Henson and Plumlee picked up three fouls. Monroe has been the odd man out the last two games. And small ball meant limited minutes even for Henson (18 minutes) and Plumlee (15 minutes). Kidd said he told Monroe before the Miami game he would not be playing. "He didn't really give me an explanation; he just said he would be going with those guys," Monroe said of the conversation in Miami. Did they talk again before the game Saturday? "He didn't say there would be any changes," Monroe said. "Go ask him. Of course, I want to play."
2. Durant is having no trouble adjusting to his new team. He scored 25 points in the first half on 8-of-10 shooting, including 5 of 5 from three-point range.
3. Jason Terry is likely to get more minutes now that the Bucks have sent Rashad Vaughn to the NBA Development League. Terry sank a pair of threes early in the game to help the Bucks take a nine-point lead. Terry scored nine points in 19 minutes.
UP NEXT
Teams: Orlando Magic (6-7) vs. Milwaukee Bucks (5-7).
When: 7 p.m. Monday.
Where: BMO Harris Bradley Center.
About the Magic: Former Thunder forward Serge Ibaka roasted his old team with a career-high 31 points and the game-winning jumper in his return to Oklahoma City last weekend. Frank Vogel was hired to coach the Magic after he was not retained in Indiana. Orlando beat Dallas, 95-87, at the Amway Center on Saturday as D.J. Augustin had 18 points off the bench and center Nikola Vucevic added 12 points and 12 rebounds.