MILWAUKEE — Steph Curry has noticed a pattern recently, and you probably have, too. The Warriors fall into a humongous hole in the first half, mount a furious comeback after the break, and come up just short.
Well, one of those things happened Thursday against the Milwaukee Bucks.
What was on pace to be the most lopsided loss in franchise history ended as only the worst defeat of the season, 118-99.
The Warriors are limping into the season’s halfway point. At 30-11, they still hold the league’s second-best record but have lost four of their last five.
With all their success, the Warriors are almost always the recipients of their opponents’ best effort. Klay Thompson noted as much after the recent loss Thursday in Memphis. But with the coin flipped Thursday, facing the defending champions, the Warriors’ struggles only got worse.
The Warriors allowed their most points in a half this season (77) and narrowly avoided their worst 24 minutes of scoring, too, on an Otto Porter Jr. 3-pointer just before halftime.
The 39-point halftime margin made for the Warriors’ largest deficit at intermission since the franchise moved to California in 1962-63. Things turned around slightly in the second half to avoid the worst defeat in franchise history, too.
A sign of the times: Thompson found himself wide open from beyond the arc early in the third quarter without a defender even closing in on him. He bricked the shot, the fifth in a string of seven straight misses by the sharpshooter.
Thompson’s return was supposed to inject some life into a troubled Warriors offense, but their problems scoring the ball have only been exacerbated since he joined the rotation.
Against the Bucks, the Warriors were held to 34.7% from the field, their fourth straight game shooting below 43% and their worst mark of the season. Only in the second half did their assists (20) begin to eclipse their turnovers (15).
While the Warriors reintegrate Thompson into the offense, coach Steve Kerr said they would rely on the defensive identity they established during the first 40 games of the season. Entering Thursday, Golden State was the top-ranked defense in the NBA, by a number of metrics.
But without its most important chess piece — Draymond Green is home with a tight calf — Golden State was left floundering against Giannis Antetokounmpo, the two-time MVP, who can be an impossible task even for a team at full strength.
Antetokounmpo torched the Warriors for a triple-double — 30 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists — one of three Milwaukee players with at least 20 points. The Bucks became the first team to shoot better than 50% from the field against the the Warriors this season.
By the first basket of the fourth quarter, the Bucks had 100 points, a figure Golden State had held opponents under for 17 full games.
Andrew Wiggins led the Warriors with 16 points. Curry was held to 12 points, while Thompson finished with 11 on 3-of-11 shooting.
