Every single team in the NBA exhaled deeply on Saturday night as the Golden State Warriors finally lost their first game of the 2015-2016 season. After a historic run captivated the attention of players, fans, and media members around the league, the second-longest win streak in NBA history ended at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks.
A night on which the Bucks handed out T-shirts that read "24-1" and came just after the Warriors had survived a double-overtime thriller in Boston against the Celtics, the defending champs were defeated. By a score of 108-95, the lowly Bucks, who ended the Los Angeles Lakers' record-holding 33-game winning streak in January of 1972, got a huge performance out of Giannis Antetokounmpo and their key players while Stephen Curry and company went cold.
The 21 year-old Antetokounmpo tallied a triple-double with 11 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists. Sixth-year center, Greg Monroe, who signed with Milwaukee as a free agent this past summer, matched Curry as the game's high scorer (28 points), while also pulling down 11 rebounds on his way to a double-double. Second-year man Jabari Parker netted a season-high 19 points and Michael Carter-Williams added 17 off the bench including several authoritative slams.
Curry finished with 28 points on 10-for-21 shooting, while Draymond Green tallied a double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds. After missing one game due to a sprained ankle, Klay Thompson scored 12 points on 4-for-14 shooting from the field.
The defending champs have shot 42.5 percent from three-point range all season, but were held to 23.1 percent from long range against the Bucks.
So what is next in the NBA world? Will the media shift its attention to the Kobe Bryant farewell tour? Could the Golden State Warriors find themselves in a brief rut? And can a new team assume the position of the top dog?
For starters, Curry hinted at the potential for the Warriors to go home-having not played at Oracle Arena in over two weeks-and "start a new streak." There was a dejected aura in the postgame interviews following the loss to the Bucks, shedding light on how much this team truly hates losing. And that alone should put fear back into other teams around the league.
A regular season loss, as the Warriors have continuously pointed out, means nothing when you have already won 24 games less than two months into the season. Nevertheless, this team will continue to draw comparisons to the '95-'96 Chicago Bulls as they try to best the infamous 72-10 regular season record.
The thought of the defending champs heading back home-a place they lost just twice during the regular season in 2014-2015-for a five-game homestand could easily allow them to get back to their winning ways. That will quickly run them into a Christmas Day matchup between the Cleveland Cavaliers in a rematch of the 2015 NBA Finals. Many thought the Warriors would be 33-0 at that point. While that will not be the case, 32-1 appears to be very feasible.
Another takeaway from this epic defeat that remains to be seen is whether or not it will turn the Bucks' season around. At 10-15, they have been a great disappointment this season. After making the postseason last year as the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference, Jason Kidd's team got a major boost to their lineup with the offseason addition of Greg Monroe.
That coupled with the return of Jabari Parker, who played the first 25 games of his rookie season before tearing his ACL, should have been enough to launch them towards the top of the standings in the East. It has been quite the opposite, however, as the Fear the Deer motto has largely underwhelmed. While every team in the Central Division has gotten better, it has been the Bucks who are worse off in 2015-2016.
Milwaukee is just 2-10 on the road this season. Their most impressive win of the season came at home against the undefeated defending champs, but their only other victory against a team with a current winning record came in double overtime against the Cavaliers in a November home game.
On the positive side, the Bucks have seven players averaging double figures and have the talent and depth to regain their position among the elites of the East. The return of O.J. Mayo was highlighted by his season-high 18-point performance against the Warriors, a game in which he made four of his eight shots from three-point range. If Mayo and Parker can elevate their games following the biggest win of the regular season, the Bucks are destined for the playoffs.
Elsewhere around the league, the San Antonio Spurs have maintained their position four games behind the Warriors and will surely put the pressure on. They are the only other team that has won 20 games.