NBA Wrap: Golden State Warriors’ 24-game winning streak ends in loss to Bucks
GOLDEN State’s record 24-game winning streak to start the NBA season came to an end in a 108-95 loss to the Bucks in Milwaukee.
GOLDEN State’s dream run in the NBA has ended in Milwaukee.
MILWAUKEE BUCKS 108 — GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS 95
The Warriors’ record 24-game winning streak to start the NBA season came to an end in a 108-95 loss to the Bucks in Milwaukee.
A night after barely beating Boston in double overtime, the weary NBA champions succumbed in Milwaukee in the final game of a seven-game road trip.
Golden State’s winning streak, the longest to start a season in NBA history, is the third longest in a single season behind the Los Angeles Lakers, who won 33 in a row in 1971-72, while the Miami Heat won 27 straight in 2013.
The Bucks also stopped the Lakers’ winning steak in 1972.
Stretching back to the end of last season, Golden State won 28 consecutive regular-season games.
The normally sharpshooting Warriors struggled offensively, shooting barely 40 per cent from the floor, with guards Stephen Curry (10-for-21 for 28 points) and Klay Thompson (four-for-14 for 12 points) struggling to find their range.
Australia’s Andrew Bogut bagged just two points to go with six rebounds and four blocks.
Milwaukee improved to 10-15 with the win.
AUSSIES IN ACTION
Aussies Pistons centre Aron Baynes had a short but sweet contribution to his side’s win over Indiana. Baynes had 6 points, seven rebounds, one assist and one block in 16 minutes off the bench, backing up Andre Drummond.
Patty Mills couldn’t get his 3-point radar going for the Spurs, going 0-4, but his five assists, one steal, three rebounds and seven points helped San Antonio to a big victory against Atlanta.
Andrew Bogut started for the Warriors, in their devastating defeat to Milwaukee. He had two points, six rebounds, three assists, and four blocks.
WASHINGTON WIZARDS 114 — DALLAS MAVERICKS 111
Otto Porter scored a career-high 28 points, John Wall had 26 points and 16 assists and the Washington Wizards ended an 11-game losing streak against the Dallas Mavericks with a 114-111 victory Saturday night.
Washington had not beaten Dallas since Oct. 27, 2009. The Wizards were playing their second straight game without Bradley Beal. The team announced before the game that Beal would be sidelined for at least two weeks with a right leg injury. Beal is the team’s second-leading scorer with 19.8 points per game.
Wesley Matthews led the Mavericks with 28 points, including six 3-pointers. Matthews hit 10 3s last Sunday in Dallas’ 116-104 win in Washington.
Deron Williams sat out for the Mavericks with a stomach illness. Williams is second on the team with 15.3 points per game and leads the team in assists.
The Mavericks split their point guard minutes between Raymond Felton, Barea and Devin Harris. Barea had 21 points, 13 in the fourth quarter, and Felton had 10 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds. Marcin Gortat had 14 points and 12 rebounds for Washington. Ramon Sessions scored 17 points off the bench.
LA CLIPPERS 105 — BROOKLYN NETS 100
The Los Angeles Clippers were reminded by assistant coach Lawrence Frank on Saturday that they hadn’t won in Brooklyn.
Their road woes against the Nets actually went back to when Frank was the Nets’ coach, eight years and another state ago.
Blake Griffin and J.J. Redick each scored 21 points, and the Clippers ended a seven-game road losing streak against the Nets with a 105-100 victory Saturday night.
Chris Paul had 15 points and 14 assists for the Clippers, who hadn’t beaten the Nets on the road since Dec. 11, 2007, back in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Clippers never beat them during the Nets’ brief stay in Newark and had been 0-3 in Brooklyn.
They blew a big lead here last season and nearly did it again, which Paul said has been a problem this season.
DeAndre Jordan finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds as the Clippers bounced back from Thursday’s loss in Chicago to improve to 3-1 on their road trip that ends Monday in Detroit.
“Our defence has really improved and if we keep on this track we’re going to be where we think we should be,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said.
Thaddeus Young scored 18 points and Jarrett Jack had 16 points and 11 assists for the Nets, who were trying for their first three-game winning streak of the season.
BOSTON CELTICS 98 — CHARLOTTE HORNETS 93
The Boston Celtics easily could have mailed it in Saturday night after losing a gruelling double-overtime game to Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors the night before.
But that’s not Boston’s style.
Instead, the Celtics gutted it out on the second night of a back-to-back — just as they’ve done most of this season under coach Brad Stevens.
Avery Bradley scored 23 points, Isaiah Thomas added 21 points and 13 assists, and the Celtics snapped the Charlotte Hornets’ four-game winning streak with a 98-93 victory.
The Celtics improved to 4-1 on the second night of a back-to-back.
Jae Crowder added 16 points and seven rebounds for the Celtics (14-10), who have won seven of their last 10 games.
Stevens called it a big win over a Hornets team that was 10-3 at home coming into the game.
Batum led the Hornets with 21 points and eight rebounds, and Kemba Walker had 16 points. Charlotte shot just 11 of 35 from 3-point range and seemed to lack intensity.
DETROIT PISTONS 118 — INDIANA PACERS 96
Stan Van Gundy has waited all season for a night like he got Saturday, when his entire roster clicked in the same game.
Playing their seventh game in nine nights, the Pistons outscored the Indiana Pacers 74-50 in the second and third quarters and went on to an easy 118-96 win.
Detroit has won six of eight, including three of the five games in rapid succession. The Pistons had one bad loss in Charlotte and lost to Memphis on a half-court shot with 1.1 seconds to play.
Reggie Jackson had 21 points and nine assists to lead a balanced attack. Ersan Ilyasova added 20 points, while Kentavious Caldwell-Pope finished with 18 points, a career-high eight assists and seven rebounds.
Six Pistons scored in double figures, while Andre Drummond had eight points and 11 rebounds.
George Hill led the Pacers with 14 points, while Paul George finished with 13 on 4-of-16 shooting, missing all four of his 3-point attempts.
The Pacers lost for the fourth time in five games.
The teams traded the lead for much of the first half, but Jackson, Caldwell-Pope and Ilyasova hit three straight 3-pointers late in the second quarter to jump Detroit’s advantage to 63-51.
The Pacers made a quick run, but Jackson’s fallaway jumper at the buzzer gave Detroit a 65-55 lead at the half. Four Pistons starters were in double figures, led by Jackson’s 13 points.
SAN ANTONIO SPURS 103 — ATLANTA HAWKS 78
The most dominant defensive half by an NBA team this season earned only a dismissive shrug from San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich.
Kawhi Leonard scored 22 points and the Spurs allowed only 25 first-half points in beating the Atlanta Hawks 103-78 on Saturday night.
The Spurs led 47-25 at halftime. The Hawks’ total — 13 points in the first quarter, 12 in the second — was the lowest for any NBA team in any half this season, according to STATS. The previous low was Houston’s 26 second-half points on Nov. 1 at Miami.
Popovich seemed unimpressed as he described the rout as “one of those NBA games.”
The Spurs (20-5) improved the NBA’s second-best record. They have been overshadowed by the Golden State Warriors, who lost for the first time this season on Saturday night at Milwaukee.
Asked before the game if the Spurs are playing under the radar, Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer, a former longtime Spurs assistant, said “Sounds like every year.”
Budenholzer suggested Popovich might prefer to avoid the spotlight, but that could become increasingly difficult. The addition of LaMarcus Aldridge, who had 13 points, has provided more scoring balance with Leonard and Manu Ginobili, who had 17 points.
Paul Millsap led Atlanta with 22 points, including 17 in the third quarter. No other Hawks player scored in double figures. Teague scored only four points, all on free throws, to go with three assists and five turnovers.
CHICAGO BULLS 98 — NEW ORLEANS PELICANS 94
Pau Gasol had 18 points and Aaron Brooks scored 15 of his 17 in the fourth quarter as the Chicago Bulls beat the New Orleans Pelicans 98-94 on Saturday night.
Jimmy Butler added 15 points for the Bulls, who trailed for most of the game.
Anthony Davis and Tyreke Evans each scored 22 points for the Pelicans, who fell to 1-11 on the road. Eric Gordon added 14.
Davis tied it at 94 with a three-point play with 1:47 remaining, and Brooks’ layup gave the Bulls a 96-94 lead with 40 seconds to play.
Gordon missed a jumper with 30 seconds left before Derrick Rose nailed a 15-footer for a 98-94 lead with 11.5 seconds remaining. Evans missed a 3 right before the buzzer.
Doug McDermott added 12 points for the Bulls. Joakim Noah and Nikola Mirotic each had 10.
Brooks and Kirk Hinrich hit back-to-back 3-pointers for a 73-70 Bulls lead with 9:43 remaining — their first lead since 4-3. But the Pelicans retook the lead at 79-77 on Evans’ 3 with 7:31 left.
With the score tied at 89, Davis missed two free throws. Gordon made a layup for a brief Pelicans lead before Brooks hit a 3 to put Chicago back on top. Gasol’s jumper extended it to 94-91 with 2:05 left.
HOUSTON ROCKETS 126 — LA LAKERS 97
The Houston Rockets are certainly not where they want to be yet. However, they feel like they’re getting close. They reached .500 on Saturday night with an easy 126-97 win over the Los Angeles Lakers behind 30 points from James Harden.
A 3-pointer by Nick Young with about seven minutes left got the Lakers within 11, but a 13-2 run by Houston pushed the lead to 115-93 and the Rockets cruised to the victory. Donatas Motiejunas, Harden and Patrick Beverley each made a 3-pointer to cap the key stretch.
Motiejunas had 11 points in his best game since returning from back surgery.
Kobe Bryant had 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Lakers, who have lost six in a row and 13 of 14.
Despite Houston’s blowout win, the home crowd seemed to be filled with more Bryant fans than Rockets fans. They cheered loudly every time he touched the ball and chanted “Kobe! Kobe! Kobe!” as the final seconds ticked away.
Bryant, who plans to retire after this season, stopped on his way off the court for a hug with former Rocket Steve Francis as the crowd continued to chant his name.
Houston star Dwight Howard scored six straight points to end the first half, highlighted by a soaring, two-handed dunk after a steal.
Originally published as NBA Wrap: Golden State Warriors’ 24-game winning streak ends in loss to Bucks
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