3 takeaways from Milwaukee Bucks’ tough loss to Golden State Warriors

Klay Thompson erupted for a season-high 38 points partially due to the sluggish defensive effort on the Milwaukee Bucks’ part

Along with their lackluster rebounding, one of the more prominent reasons that the Bucks lost to the Warriors last night was the sensational game from Klay Thompson. The guard found a groove by shooting 15-of-24 (62.5 percent) from the floor, including 8-of-14 (57.1 percent) from 3-point range en route to scoring a season-high 38 points. Milwaukee had no answer for Thompson’s hot scoring night from start to finish, which shined a light on the team’s poor defensive effort.

Thompson had an array of open looks from behind the arc throughout the matchup, letting it fly with confidence and little resistance at every turn. No matter who the Bucks put across from him, whether it was Khris Middleton, Wesley Matthews, or whomever, Thompson somehow continued to get wide open and bury Milwaukee further with another triple.

Unlike the rebounding, Milwaukee’s defensive effort is quite worrisome. The Bucks have not been a good team defensively following the All-Star break, and this game highlighted that issues. If the defending champions will get back up to par on that end of the court, it starts with turning up the intensity. There were a handful of plays where the Bucks simply left a Warrior wide open and let them get a warmup shot, which they sunk time and time again. Golden State shot 48.4 percent from the field and 40 percent from 3-point range in this one, making Milwaukee pay. Simply put, this team needs to defend better.

Getting back two key players in Brook Lopez and George Hill would help in that regard, as ESPN and Andscape’s Marc J. Spears reported prior to the game that there is rumored optimism that the pair could return to action next week. That would be a sizeable boost to help patch up these defensive issues, and fingers remain crossed that they are indeed trending toward returns soon. However, as much as it will help, adding these two alone will not fix Milwaukee’s issues, and the Bucks could undoubtedly learn from last night’s game.