Taking down the defending champs on the road
Over the last few seasons, the Bucks haven’t been strangers to playing up or down to their competition, no matter whether they were Davids or Goliaths. That includes defending NBA champions as the Bucks had notched three such victories in each of the last three seasons prior to this year.
There was the infamous 24-1 game where they put an end to the Golden State Warriors’ 24-game winning streak to open the 2015-16 campaign, and the blowout victory versus the Cleveland Cavaliers the following season that practically cemented Giannis Antetokounmpo’s first All-Star bid.
The Bucks also managed to edge by a Warriors team that was down both two-time MVP Steph Curry and Klay Thompson late in 2017-18, which stood as a shining victory within the Bucks’ inconsistent close to the regular season.
For the lone and final visit to famed Oracle Arena in early November this season, the new-look Bucks sent a message to the back-to-back champs that this was no longer the Bucks of old, as they stomped the Warriors for a 134-111 victory.
Yes, similar circumstances prevented the Warriors from rolling out a full squad as the 2016-17 Defensive Player of the Year, Draymond Green, was sidelined because of a toe injury. The same eventually went for Curry to as he left the game midway through the third quarter due to a strained groin that kept him out of the next 11 tilts.
Despite that, the Bucks’ incredibly well-rounded performance, of course, led by superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, carved up the Warriors in virtually every aspect of the game.
Eric Bledsoe’s performance, in particular, stood out for all the right reasons as his brilliant two-way performance powered what may stand as his greatest outing in a Bucks uniform as this point in his tenure (as of this writing).
There’s nothing like a message of intent and while there’s still plenty of games to be played between now and the end of the season, the Bucks taking down the champs in convincing fashion certainly stands out this year compared to previous wins.