Bucks end Golden State’s winning streak Saturday

Golden State’s record winning streak to start the season ended at 24 games when the Warriors were beaten 108-95 at Milwaukee on Saturday.

The Golden State Warriors walked slowly off the Bradley Center floor, exchanging handshakes with the victorious Milwaukee Bucks on the way back to their locker room.

In a twist of irony, the longest streak in NBA history, the 1972 Los Angeles Lakers, also ended in Milwaukee at the hands of the Bucks. According to NBA.TV, it was the sixth time in history that the franchise ended a streak of at least 12 games. They usually make 13 a night, but were 6 of 26 from behind the arc on the final stop of a seven-game trip.

But let’s be honest: No one, including the Warriors themselves, ever really expected this to happen.

They’re not used to losing.

Milwaukee Bucks’ Michael Carter-Williams reacts after a made basket during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Golden State Warriors Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015, in Milwaukee. You start to believe that. “You believe you can win any kind of way”. “It’s disappointing because I thought we beat ourselves, especially on my end”. Tired and depleted after a 13-day road trip, which tied the longest in franchise history, the team can now focus on getting healthy and getting better, rather than scoring more points than the other guys night after night. Golden State was a step slow all night, routinely falling behind cutters on defense.

Friday’s thriller may have sapped the Warriors’ energy but Boston showed no ill effects as they beat the Charlotte Hornets 98-93 to close to within one win of Atlantic Division leaders the Toronto Raptors. This team doesn’t engender the level of hatred that the Miami Heat did back when LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh teamed up in the 2010-11 season, but it certainly receives the same intense level of passion and attention.

“It’s definitely weird”, Stephen Curry said of losing.

Yes, it was a road game. Their team just got Klay Thompson back and can now finally rest up as they will look to pursue back to back NBA Titles. “And so, for us, we didn’t talk about the streak, it was about playing the world champs”. The Warriors were exhausted, as their plane didn’t even land in Milwaukee until 3:45 A.M. local time.

Stephen Curry had 28 points on 10-for-21 shooting from the field. But the Bucks were undeniably the better team tonight, and they earned this massive victory (they were also playing on the back-end of a back-to-back, so no advantage there). The Bucks opened the quarter on an 11-2 run as the Warriors missed eight of their first nine shots.

If you’re a Comcast subscriber in the Bay Area, you can stream tonight’s Warriors-Bucks game here.

So as those final seconds ticked off the clock, Curry could only watch as confetti came down from the rafters as if the Bucks had won a championship.

Last season’s champions were aiming for their 25th straight win of the season but were undone by a side coming third last in the NBA’s Eastern Conference, the Bucks with a mediocre 9-15 record to their name before this match. In fact, don’t be surprised if they start a new streak on Wednesday when they return to Oracle Arena to host the Phoenix Suns. Its overall regular-season streak stopped at 28.