For the last month the entire basketball world has been wondering who, if anybody, would (or indeed could) stop the Golden State Warriors. The conversation heated up when the Warriors went 16-0 and set the record for the best start in NBA history. And it boiled over as they stubbornly kept refusing to lose. Many predicted that the Warriors would fall to the Indiana Pacers last Tuesday night, others thought the Boston Celtics would have a shot a few days later. Many thought they could get close to – or break – the NBA record 33 game win streak set by the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers.
Practically nobody had the Milwaukee Bucks as the ones to finally end the Warriors’ winning ways. Why would they? The Bucks were 9-15 heading into Saturday’s game against the 24-0 Warriors and coming off two straight losses. A young and not entirely fully-formed team, the Bucks didn’t look like they had much chance of putting up a fight, let alone handing the Warriors their first loss of the season. Yet the Bucks won, and won big, defeating the Warriors 108-95, and abruptly halting Golden State’s historic run.
So, how did Milwaukee do it? The Bucks mostly outworked Golden State, taking a lead early and forcing their opponents to catch up. Because their opponent were the Warriors, they did indeed catch up several times throughout the course of the game, but for one of the first times this season Steph Curry and Co couldn’t match their opponents’ energy. By the closing minutes of the fourth quarter, the game became such a clear blowout that interim head coach Luke Walton did the unthinkable and pulled several of his starters, conceding defeat.
Considering that the game came down to energy, one could argue that the Bucks didn’t beat the Warriors, the schedule did. The Warriors were aiming to become the first NBA team to win seven consecutive road games, introducing an extra degree of difficulty into the equation. There’s a reason that no team has accomplished this yet: road trips this long are tiring ordeals, both mentally and physically. To compound matters further, Golden State had just squeaked out a grueling double-overtime win over the Boston Celtics the night before at TD Garden. Added to this, forward Harrison Barnes was out, while Klay Thompson was playing with an ankle injury that had kept him out of the Boston game.
The circumstances, then, were all in place for an upset, but that alone can’t explain why Milwaukee so soundly defeated Golden State. The Warriors were vulnerable for an upset, yes, but the Bucks had to give it their all in order to put up that final scoreline.
Michael Carter-Williams puts the nail in the coffin! https://t.co/BOunrzcUKB
— Bleacher Report NBA (@BR_NBA) December 13, 2015
Giannis Antetokounmpo recorded the first triple-double of his career. Greg Monroe went 11 for 16 in the game, scoring 28 points. The defense held reigning MVP Curry to 2-for-8 shooting from the three-point line. With time winding down, Michael Carter-Williams provided the game’s highlight with an emphatic dunk that put a symbolic full stop to the Warriors’ streak. The Bucks players deserve the majority of credit for this victory. As Curry pointed out after the game: “for 48 minutes, I don’t think anybody can say we played as hard as they did.’’
It’s tempting to make excuses for the Warriors though, arguing they were beaten by fatigue and the schedule rather than their opponents. And it’s perhaps hard to give credit to the Bucks, in part, because they just ended the most fun story in basketball in the most anticlimactic manner possible. This wasn’t supposed to be how it ended. The streak was supposed to end on a bigger stage, in a more exciting game against a “worthier” opponent. Maybe, it could even have lasted until the NBA Finals rematch against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Christmas Day.
The loss also seems to come at a bad time because now the win streak will now forever feel artificial. Officially, the Warriors’ win streak stands at 28 games, a number which combines their 24-0 start this season with the four straight wins they accumulated at the end of last season. Technically this puts them in second place on the NBA’s longest consecutive regular season wins list, ahead of the 2012-13 Miami Heat’s 27 game total, but it feels so incredibly unnatural that it feels more like a record book quirk than a legitimate accomplishment.
Luckily, there’s another, more impressive, record in play. These Warriors still have a chance at tying or surpassing the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls’ 72-10 record, the best in NBA history. Considering how long it took for the Warriors to drop their first game, and how many factors had to come in play for it to happen, it’s hard to imagine them losing more than nine games before the end of the season.
That’s more of a long-term plotline however, lacking the buzz of Golden State’s 24 (28 if you squint) game win streak. For the near future, Warriors games won’t quite be the must-watch events they have been this past month. The Bucks have cancelled that particular show.
