Bucks dominate Warriors in rare Xmas hosting
By Girald Gaston
Warriors superstar Steph Curry and Bucks superstar Kris Middleton (PHOTO: Sportsnaut) |
Milwaukee Bucks made the most out of its first Christmas
home game in over half a century.
Khris Middleton took charge to lead the home team's blowout
against struggling Golden State Warriors, 138-99, Friday afternoon at Fiserv
Forum, Milwaukee.
Middleton and company caught fire from beyond the arc right
from the get go, and continued the mastery over the skidding Warriors to notch
a wire-to-wire Holiday victory at their home since 1968.
The Bucks star swished six of Milwaukee's 20 total treys, to
finish off with a game-high 31 points, in 67 percent accuracy from the field.
He followed up his decent 27-point output in their first outing, to have a total
of 58 markers, most in Bucks.
"The weeks before the season, I just tried to put in
good work, work on my game," Middleton said. "So far, it's been
working for me."
Two-time reigning NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo had 15
points and 13 rebounds, but continued his shooting woes as he shot 4 of 15 from
the floor and 7 of 15 from the foul line. Donte DiVincenzo and D.J. Augustin
each added 13 for Milwaukee while Holiday chipped 12 and Bobby Portis scored
10.
Bucks was plus 30 from downtown over Warriors, who shot its
triple with subpar 22 percent. The visiting team is still missing the service
of the other half of splash brothers Klay Thompson, who suffered Achilles
injury before the season.
Warriors absorbed its second straight lopsided defeat in the
season, and totaled a 65-point margin after the 26-point rout of Nets in season
opener. The disadvantage was the second worst behind Los Angeles Clippers' 71
points from 1987-1988 edition of NBA.
Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr showed his disappointment
after the game, and took the blame as they had a short practice before the
season.
"The thing I was most disappointed in is we just had
two good days of practice with our execution working on getting in our offense
and making hard cuts and reads, and we did not execute much of anything,"
Kerr said. "It was kind of scattered and disorganized. I'm disappointed in
that. I've got to take the blame for that. I'm the head coach."
The veteran-rookie combo of Golden State was not enough, as
Stephen Curry and James Wiseman just combined for 37 points. Andrew Wiggins
added 12, while Jordan Poole and Brad Wanamaker had 11 each.
Bucks will open its three-game road trip against New York
Knicks on Sunday. Warriors, meanwhile, will visit the Chicago Bulls on same
night, as they continue to be away at their home court since January 1.
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