Biggest difference in Warriors' blowout loss to Bucks was energy, desire

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OAKLAND -- Kevon Looney’s mother had a postgame hug for Draymond Green, telling him she would pray for his ailing toe because the Warriors missed him Thursday night.

Assistant coach Ron Adams said he was going to go home and soak his (backside) because it got kicked pretty good.

Head coach Steve Kerr also used a body part to summarize the Warriors being blown off the floor by the Milwaukee Bucks.

“Sometimes, you get hit in the mouth in this league to remind you how hard it is to win a game,” the coach said after a 134-111 loss before a stupefied sellout crowd at Oracle Arena.

Insofar as the rangy, hyperactive Bucks are a bad physical matchup for the Warriors, the champs have to play well in the best of times to prevail. Anything less invites calamity, and that’s what unfolded even before Stephen Curry left the game in the third quarter with a left adductor strain.

The Warriors committed four fouls in a little more than two minutes. Jordan Bell, starting for Green, was whistled twice inside the first five minutes and spent the rest of the half on the bench.

“They shot a lot of free throws to start the game,” Kevin Durant said of the Bucks, who shot nine free throws in the first quarter, 19 in the half. “There were a couple (fouls) that we reached down when we shouldn’t have, put Giannis (Antetokounmpo) on the line a couple times to start the game, and they had a set defense.”

A set Milwaukee defense is a difficult obstacle course to navigate and over the course of the evening, it only got harder for the Warriors, who committed 18 turnovers, leading to 23 points for the Bucks.

The most striking contrast between the teams, however, was the energy levels. The Bucks played with such passion it made the Warriors look downright lethargic.

“We didn’t take our foot off the gas at any point,” said Bucks guard Malcolm Brogdon, who had 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field.

“They just played hungrier than us,” conceded Klay Thompson, whose team-high 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting was the most notable sign of positive offensive life for the Warriors, who excluding him, shot 39.6 percent through the first three quarters.

By then, the Bucks were up 105-79 and strutting around like self-made kings. They earned the status, getting one of most efficient games of point guard Eric Bledsoe’s eight-year career -- 26 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the field, in 26 minutes and finishing at plus-30 -- and utilizing smart defensive strategy.

The Bucks stayed close to the stars and dared the supporting cast to beat them.

“They did a great job of really guarding Steph, Klay and I with two guys, and also a guy shifting over on the drive,” Durant explained. “They forced us to pass the ball to DJ (Damian Jones) and Damion (Lee) and whoever the other two guys who were in the game, and forced them to make plays for us.

“It kind of threw us off on offense and that’s when they got it going.”

The Warriors didn’t bring their A-game. They didn’t bring their B-game. They barely brought their C-game, and they left the building in a heap. That’s what happens in the NBA when a talented opponent clearly wants it more.

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