The Milwaukee Bucks came away from Oracle Arena on Thursday night with an important win from an incredibly eventful game against the Golden State Warriors.
Although it’s a narrative that has taken some knocks at times this season, in recent years the Milwaukee Bucks have shown an ability to up their game for matchups with marquee opponents under the brightest of lights.
As it transpired, Thursday night in Oakland fell under that category. Even against a Golden State Warriors team that was missing two of its biggest stars and reintroducing another two to the starting lineup, the Bucks brought a special kind of intensity and determination in front of the TNT cameras at Oracle Arena.
The chance to pick up a road win over the defending champions is the kind of scenario that rarely needs any extra motivation, but the way in which the Bucks let Tuesday’s game against the Clippers get away from them late on may have provided some all the same.
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As they did against the Spurs last Sunday, the Bucks provided a taste of what they can do when everything clicks into place. Golden State’s carelessness was punished ruthlessly by the Bucks in transition early on, setting a tone for the game that was to play out from there.
Kevin Durant was ejected for an outburst of profanities directed at an official just before half time, but even at that point, the Bucks were starting to assert their dominance over their opponent.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was close to his imperiously efficient best on the offensive end, while Khris Middleton, Eric Bledsoe and Jabari Parker all stepped up with outstanding supporting performances too.
With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at the Milwaukee players’ individual performances on Thursday night.