The first two minutes Tuesday night in Milwaukee showcased the Warriors in sync, making three of their first four shots while holding the Bucks scoreless.
The other 46 minutes were an entirely different matter, with that early 7-0 lead getting buried in a 128-111 loss that featured seven technical fouls and at least one fan being tossed from Fiserv Forum.
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Five Warriors scored in double figures, led by Stephen Curry’s 20 points in a game was so lopsided he never left the bench after the third quarter.
Five different Warriors were assessed technical fouls: Coach Steve Kerr, Andre Iguodala (who was inactive but on the bench), Jordan Poole, Curry and Kuminga. The whistles had little bearing on the game, aside from brutalizing the aesthetics.
Here are three observations from the Warriors’ third consecutive road loss, which leaves them 2-12 this season away from Chase Center and 14-14 on the season:
Punished in the paint
Golden State Warriors
At a distinct size disadvantage against most opponents, the Warriors on this night were downright Lilliputian relative to Milwaukee’s massive front line.
Golden State knew rebounding would be a challenge against the league’s No. 2 rebounding team, and it was. The result: minus-18 (55-37) in that category. It was 30-19 through three quarters, as the Bucks built a 26-point lead.
The rebounding disparity was further illustrated in the second-chance points totals, an area the Warriors know all too well. The Bucks were 12-10 winners.
The most painful secondary statistic, however, was points in the paint. The Warriors managed to score 30, on 46.9 percent shooting, while the Bucks rolled up 48, on 70.6 percent shooting.
Want more? The Warriors, clearly bothered by Milwaukee’s size, missed no fewer than nine shots within five feet of the rim.
League’s best defense looked the part
The Bucks entered the game with the NBA’s most fearsome defense, leading the NBA in defensive rating (106.8) and field-goal defense (44.7), while ranking third in blocks (6.0) and contested shots per game (51.3).
All of that was visible over the course of the final 46 minutes, during which the Warriors shot 38.5 percent from the field and were outscored by 24 points.
Curry shot 6-of-17 from the field, Poole shot 6-of-17 and Klay Thompson 6-of-16. The teams top three available scorers also combined to shoot 8-of-24 beyond the arc.
Credit the Milwaukee defense, which limited the Warriors to 40 percent shooting for the game, blocked five shots and affected dozens of others.
The Warriors twice tried their small-ball squad, but it was a dismal failure against the Bucks.
They got Giannis’d
Antetokounmpo entered the game as a top-five MVP candidate and spent the evening showing the sellout crowd why.
He scored a game-high 30 points – despite shooting only 9-of-26 from the field, including 1-of-6 from distance – grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and recorded a team-high five assists.
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But what stood out most was the Greek Freak’s mastery of the proceedings. The Warriors simply had no defensive answer to the offensive problems he presented, particularly his relentlessness in transition.
Put simply, Giannis imposed his will.