The Milwaukee Bucks made a statement at the away game in Oakland and swept the Golden State Warriors 134:111 out of their own hall. You shouldn’t overestimate this victory yet, yet the game was an exclamation mark – and a reminder: Those are no longer the old bucks.
“This victory sends a message to the League,” said Malcolm Brogdon. “Such a victory over the reigning champion is great, even for our confidence. We still have to play hard every night.”
The last set could be safely ignored, as it belongs to the basics of clichés in professional sport. But the rookie of the year from 2017 was absolutely right with the first statement: This victory was a message, a statement. These are no longer the old bucks, the bucks of confused coaching, untapped potential and a lack of game idea – this team knows what it’s doing. Even if the new philosophy doesn’t work out completely.
If one looks at the final score between the Bucks and Warriors (134:111), one would actually have to assume two basic prerequisites: Brachial dominance of Giannis Antetokounmpo on the one hand and strong shooting of his fellow players on the other hand. After all, both are central pillars of the great start to the season in Milwaukee. The latter, however, hardly played a role in this game in Oakland.
No team has hit more threesomes this season than the Bucks, only the Rockets are even more likely to keep up with downtown per game, which for Milwaukee is a turnaround compared to recent years under Jason Kidd and most recently Joe Prunty.
Newcomers like Brook Lopez, Ersan Ilyasova or Rookie Donte DiVincenzo have the green light under Mike Budenholzer and are eminently important for Giannis to be able to let off steam in the zone and have more room than ever before. This relatively simple equation helped the bucks to start 8-2. But at the ninth victory of the season they showed another face.
The litter did not want to fall (9/35 3FG), but Milwaukee dominated with defense, athletics, length and – who would have thought it a few months ago – execution. The Bucks ran the ball wonderfully, played 33 assists, dominated the board (59:46 rebounds), forced 18 turnovers of the Warriors and earned 20:4 fast break points.
The guests were superior in almost every respect, but in one in particular: Milwaukee scored 84 points in the zone – that’s how many Golden State last admitted against the Spurs in 2010. The dubs in Draymond Green lacked the central nervous system of defense, but no one wanted to take that as an excuse, even though the presence of the NBA’s best help defender could certainly have made a difference.
“Sometimes in this league you have to get your nose in to be reminded how hard it can be to win games,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr honestly put it on record. “They were just hungrier than us,” Klay Thompson agreed. “It was an ugly night in the office.”
You could put it that way. The Bucks looked faster, fresher, more explosive and, as Thompson said, more hungry than the Warriors in every way in this game: they were quicker at Loose Balls, more often at the line – and they also won the individual duels.
Antetokounmpo, for example, was the better player, often in a direct duel with Kevin Durant: Already during the break Giannis stood at 19 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists as well as 1 steal and 1 block each. In the second half he was able to rest relatively early after Milwaukee had increased his 13-point lead to 26 points until the last quarter.
This also had a lot to do with Eric Bledsoe and the fact that the Point Guard won his direct duel. Even before Stephen Curry injured himself on the left adductor in the third quarter, the recently so outstanding superstar had hardly seen any land against the athletic Bledsoe.
Bledsoe was a defensive fighter and was offensively almost flawless (26 points, 10/12 FG, 6 assists) – with his ambition he was symbolic for the strong Bucks collective on this evening, on which Brodgon (20), Khris Middleton (17) and Pat Connaughton (15) also scored well next to him and Giannis and showed once more that the Bucks are not exclusively dependent on three and their Greek MVP candidate.
Of course, there was another reason why the Bucks seemed more hungry than the Dubs: they are more hungry. Milwaukee wants to go right where the Warriors are. For them, the direct duel was much more important than for the dubs, who, after three championships in four years, are far from approaching every regular season game with foam in front of their mouths.
Their real season does not begin until mid-April at the earliest, which is why even a blowout in their home hall is still dismissed with a certain nonchalance. At this point, the Bucks aren’t for a long time. In five years with Giannis, Milwaukee is still waiting for the first playoff series to be won. This victory doesn’t change that either – the game presented them with an opportunity to make a statement.
They made the best use of this opportunity. “We’ve arrived,” Giannis said after the game, and you could interpret it that way: These aren’t the old Bucks anymore. This team has depth, a plan and a superstar who gets stronger every year. This team can be reckoned with, even in the second half of April. This message has not only arrived in Oakland.