The Bucks hung in for a half, but got sloppy in the third quarter as the Warriors ran away with a 119-99 win at the Bradley Center (recap / video).
Three Bucks
- Andrew Bogut. Coming into the game averaging 20/10 over the last seven games, Bogut racked up another ho-hum 21/10 night (7/14 fg, 7/9 ft). He quietly tied his career highs in free throws made and attempted, but he also racked up six turnovers, helping fuel the Warriors fast-paced offense.
- Michael Redd. Redd had a monster first half, scoring 20 on 9/15 fg. After the Bucks focused on getting Bogut touches in the first quarter, he took over in the second with Bogut resting. However, like most of the Bucks he was MIA in the second half, scoring just four more points.
- Royal Ivey. Coming off his biggest game as a Buck, Ivey delivered another solid performance with 14 points, eight assists and just one turnover. While Mo Williams had 19, eight rebounds and six assists, he tied Bogut for the team turnover lead with six, so among the starting guards Ivey has to get the nod here.
Three Numbers
- 47. The combined points provided by Al Harrington (27 on 10/17 fg, 5/10 3fg) and Andris Biedrins (20 on 8/10 fg). The Bucks had no answer for the Warriors' starting bigs, with Biedrins getting easy buckets time and again off pick/roll and Harrington burying triples in the face of Bucks' defenders.
- 23-9. The Warriors' run to start the third quarter, which included a 10-0 spurt to begin the quarter after Milwaukee trailed by just one at halftime. The Warriors made their first seven shots, scored 13 points off five Bucks' turnovers and got eight points from Al Harrington. The Bucks finished with nine turnovers in the quarter as the Warriors outscored the Bucks 41-22.
- Zero. Points scored by Charlie Bell, Bobby Simmons, Matt Barnes, and Mickael Pietrus. Bell was 0/4 from the field, looking more like the Charlie Bell of late 2007 as the Warrior bench outscored the Bucks' reserves 27-10. Meanwhile Bobby Simmons was out with a stiff neck and Pietrus stayed at the hotel with an illness. The strange one was Barnes, who was inactive after the Warriors mistakenly listed Pietrus on both the active and inactive lists before the game. That forced Don Nelson to use a number of fresh faces, including Kosta Perovic, who looked shockingly competent (4/4) in six minutes of second quarter action. D-League signee C.J. Watson also had a big night, scoring 13 off the bench.
Three Good
- The Bogut revolution continues. The Bucks aggressively went to Bogut early, who responded with 10 first quarter points while drawing a combined five fouls on Biedrins and Patrick O'Bryant. But the Warriors, like the Suns and Jazz last week, got smarter as the game went on, aggressively doubling Bogut and forcing him into six turnovers. The refs were perhaps a bit liberal in their calls on Bogut in the third quarter, but he also had his share of carelessness and eventually earned a technical for mockingly raising his arms and clasping his hands after Redd finally drew a foul. Still, the Bucks' first half was encouraging, as Bogut was a worthy focal point and Redd did his damage in the flow of the offense.
- The first half. I think we used this against Phoenix as well. The Bucks largely forced the Warriors into a halfcourt game in the first half, leading by five after one quarter and never buckling when the Warriors went on their short transition spurts. Trailing just 53-52 at halftime was a good start for the Bucks, as Redd and Bogut combined for 30 in the half.
- Sir Sid gets his due. As part of the Bucks' continuing 40th anniversary celebration, Warriors shooting coach and Buck great Sidney Moncrief was honored at halftime with a re-dedication of his retired #4.
Three Bad
- The third quarter. Getting lit up for 41 points in a quarter by the Warriors isn't entirely surprising, but keep in mind the Warriors were also playing their fourth game in five nights. Instead the Bucks were the ones who were lacking energy, as Golden State scored the first nine of the quarter and then also finished the quarter on a 12-2 run to lead 94-74 heading into the fourth. Game over.
- Anyone named Charlie. Aside from Bogut, the key to the Bucks' recent run of respectability has been resurgent production from Bell and Simmons. Unfortunately, Simmons was condemned to the bench after straining his neck in practice, and Bell couldn't continue his recent hot streak with an 0/4 shooting night. Charlie Villanueva wasn't much better, scoring two points on 1/4 fg in 18 minutes.
- Rebounding. Here's one department where you generally need to beat the small-balling Warriors, but the Bucks were outrebounded 36-29 and couldn't get enough second chances to overcome their only OK shooting night (48%, 5/15 3fg).