Bucks at Warriors
The Milwaukee Bucks became the first team to beat the Golden State Warriors this season when they ripped off a 108-95 home victory on Saturday. The Warriors, who bounced back by crushing the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday, will have a chance for some quick revenge when they host the Bucks on Friday.
Milwaukee took advantage of a Golden State team playing the second night of a back-to-back and the finale of a seven-game road trip in Saturday’s win and looked like a completely different team when it began its own road trip with a back-to-back at Los Angeles. After knocking off the best team in the league, the Bucks suffered a 113-95 loss to one of the worst at the Lakers as the things they did well on Saturday – perimeter defense – abandoned the team, and Wednesday’s 103-90 loss to the Clippers did not go any better. The Warriors went 6-of-26 from beyond the arc at Milwaukee to mark the first time this season they failed to hit at least 10 3-pointers, but looked refreshed against the Suns while burying 15 from beyond the arc. Golden State still has one streak intact and picked up its 29th consecutive home win with the 128-103 thrashing of Phoenix.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, FSN Wisconsin (Milwaukee), CSN Bay Area (Golden State)
ABOUT THE BUCKS (10-17): Milwaukee lost starting center Greg Monroe to an MCL sprain prior to Tuesday’s game at Los Angeles and went on to drop its 10th and 11th consecutive road games against the Lakers and Clippers. Monroe’s absence doesn’t fully account for the team’s declining results on the defensive perimeter, where they were torched for 21 3-pointers combined by the Lakers and Clippers. Miles Plumlee and John Henson have taken turns starting at center in the last two games in place of Monroe and combined for 23 rebounds in the two contests.
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (25-1): Klay Thompson sat out a double-overtime win at Boston last Friday with an ankle sprain and was rusty when he returned the next night at Milwaukee, going 4-of-14 from the field in 30 minutes. Thompson was a different player on Wednesday and scored 27 of his season-high 43 points in the third quarter while going 15-of-22 from the field, including 8-of-13 from 3-point range. “That was a lot of fun, because when you get a stop or get a transition opportunity, you try to find (Thompson) wherever he is,” Stephen Curry told reporters. “When he gets it clicking, there’s no better thing to watch.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Bucks G Greivis Vasquez (ankle) underwent surgery to remove bone a bone spur on Tuesday and will miss 3-to-4 months.
2. Golden State can match it franchise-best home start (1975-76) with its 12th win to begin the season on Friday.
3. Milwaukee G Michael Carter-Williams is averaging 17.7 points on 24-of-46 shooting in the last three games.