Warriors 117, Bucks 92: Curry's sharpshooting leads to rout

OAKLAND, Calif. – Whatever was ailing Golden State star Stephen Curry, it’s gone now.

The Warriors guard rediscovered his sweet shooting stroke in a big way Saturday night as Golden State rolled to a 117-92 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks at the Oracle Arena.

Curry hit 9 of 13 shots and 6 of 8 three-pointers – including a ridiculous bomb from 33 feet – as the Warriors quickly overcame a slow start.

The Bucks (34-35), playing for the second consecutive night, dropped to 2-2 on their season-long six-game trip, with stops remaining in Portland and Sacramento.

"They're hard to guard," Bucks guard Malcolm Brogdon said of the Warriors, who improved to a league-best 55-14 record. "When you don't get stops and you don't make shots, it's going to be a really rough night. They got to cutting and moving and passing, and I think we were worn down a little bit."

Milwaukee jumped out to a 14-point lead in the first quarter, but a few minutes later the Warriors went on a 20-2 run to take control.

Curry finished with a game-leading 28 points while Klay Thompson added 21 and Andre Iguodala had 15 off the bench for Golden State. All 12 Warriors players who entered the game got in the scoring column.

"He's going to make shots," Bucks coach Jason Kidd said of Curry. "You can be on him; he's going to make some from halfcourt. You have to make him work on the other end. But you can't get frustrated; that's just who he is. He's one of the best in the league.

"When we were out there moving the ball, good things were happening. And we lost that trust."

BOX SCORE: Warriors 117, Bucks 92

Brogdon led the Bucks with 18 points and Greg Monroe and Tony Snell had 12 each.

Giannis Antetokounmpo was limited to nine points on 4-of-14 shooting in 30 minutes as Draymond Green played lockdown defense on the Bucks all-star.

Antetokounmpo declined to talk to reporters after the game.

"Draymond is a defensive guy," Kidd said. "He understands the game and has a very high IQ. He frustrated Giannis."

Green said he tried to make sure Antetokounmpo did not get going with transition baskets.

"It's tough to stop him when he's going full speed," Green said. "I felt good about a couple plays there in transition where I made him have to drop the ball off because I didn't give him an angle to the rim. I take that as a win because usually that's a dunk."

Milwaukee dropped into eighth place in the East by virtue of a tiebreaker with Miami (34-35). The Bucks are one game ahead of Detroit and 1 ½ ahead of Chicago, which beat Utah on Saturday.

The Bucks grabbed a 14-point lead early in the game but were outscored, 49-17, the rest of the half as Golden State cruised to a 63-44 halftime margin.

Curry had 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting in the first half, including 4 of 6 from three-point distance.

In a recent three-game stretch he went 4 for 31 from three-point range, and a few games later in back-to-back Golden State losses to Boston and Minnesota, he was 3 for 17 from beyond the arc.

But Curry got in a groove early and stunned Brogdon when he let one fly from 33 feet and it settled in the net to cap the Warriors' 36-point second quarter.

"Shocked me, even though I've seen it before on TV," Brogdon said. "Honestly, I should know better. I should be up more. I'll watch that on film. But it's a great shot."

The Bucks want to end the trip with positive results and guard Matthew Dellavedova said they can bounce back.

"We had some slip-ups and miscommunication, and they kind of hit us in the mouth," Dellavedova said. "We lost our way for a stretch there, and good teams like that will punish you.

"We're not aiming for .500 (on the trip). We want to keep getting better."

Warriors coach Steve Kerr inserted JaVale McGee and Shaun Livingston in the game after the Bucks broke out to a 23-9 lead. The Warriors started their comeback and trailed only 29-27 at the end of the first quarter.

"Milwaukee is such an athletic, long team and their length really bothered us in the first 5 or 6 minutes," Kerr said. "We needed to match that length so I put two really tall, long-armed guys in and it kind of worked. I thought both guys were great and Andre (Iguodala) as well.

"JaVale really gave us a good lift when he was in there. We closed the first quarter really well to get the momentum and in the second quarter we made a great push. Our defense was really active and that turned the tide for us."

The Warriors shot 60% from the field (45 of 75), marking the fourth time this season they have shot at least 60%. Golden State went 14 of 17 (82.4%) in the second quarter.

Golden State swept its three-game homestand to regain the Western Conference lead from San Antonio, which dropped to 52-16 when it lost at Memphis on Saturday.

THREE TAKEAWAYS

1. The Oracle crowd entertained itself by booing Bucks guard Matthew Dellavedova every time he touched the ball in the second half. The Warriors fans obviously remember losing to Cleveland in the NBA Finals last season, when Dellavedova was a feisty member of the Cavaliers. "Good memories last time I was here," Dellavedova said of Game 7 of the Finals. "It's all good. It's all part of the game."

2. The Warriors bench helped fuel their first-half surge, outscoring the Bucks reserves, 23-10. JaVale McGee had eight points and Matt Barnes seven. The final tally was 47-33 with the Warriors subs winning that battle.

3. Thon Maker was the only Bucks player to have a plus-minus rating in positive territory in the first half Saturday. He was a plus-7 in 9 minutes and had six points and four rebounds. "He was good," Bucks coach Jason Kidd said. "He gave us some energy. He was good on defense. He's improving. He's not out there for a long time, but I thought he got us off to a really good start."

UP NEXT

Teams: Milwaukee Bucks (34-35) vs. Portland Trail Blazers (31-37)

When: 9 p.m. Tuesday.

Where: Moda Center.

About the Trail Blazers: Damian Lillard scored 27 and CJ McCollum added 22 as Portland cruised past Atlanta, 113-97, on the road on Saturday night. The Trail Blazers have won seven of their last nine games as they try to make a run for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.