Milwaukee Bucks: 3 takeaways from 105-95 loss to Golden State Warriors

A positive outlook

Despite a sloppy performance, the Bucks bothered Golden State’s shooters for the second straight meeting, limiting Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant to a combined 10-of-31 (32.3 percent) from the field on Friday night and 21-of-60 (35 percent) in the season series.

While some of this may be simply due to a pair of off-shooting nights for the Warriors, the effect of Bledsoe’s energetic defense at the point of attack and Middleton playing well within the scheme have also visibly bothered the Warriors’ pair of All-Stars and forced them out of rhythm.

The fact that the Bucks shot so poorly and turned the ball over so much and still managed to grind out a relatively close game with the Western Conference NBA Finals favorites certainly says something about this Milwaukee team.

In years past, a sloppy performance like this would have almost certainly led to a blow out, since the Bucks would have needed virtually everything to go their way to pull out a victory.

Now, the Bucks can hang with the best in the NBA even when they are not at the top of their game thanks to Coach Budenholzer’s new schemes and the additions of a number of quality role players over the summer.

It certainly gives Bucks fans a reason to be excited for what the rest of the season has in store, even if the team didn’t pull this one out against the defending champs.

The Bucks will now make a trip across the northern border for a matchup against the East’s top-seeded Toronto Raptors on Sunday evening at 5 p.m. central time at Scotiabank Arena.