Andre Iguodala came through with a season-high 15 points and both Jonas Jerebko and Alfonzo McKinnie made key shots as the Dubs closed out their forad trip with a win in Milwaukee.
It’s the beginning of December but the Warriors’ 105-95 win in Milwaukee on Friday night certainly had a playoff feel. And like in the postseason, it was contributions from the not so usual suspects that made the difference in the Dubs having a happy flight home.
TEAM LEADERS
Andre Iguodala came through with a season-high 15 points and both Jonas Jerebko and Alfonzo McKinnie made key shots on a night that saw a lot of Bucks double-teams thrown at Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry.
“We have guys who can knock down shots, and our superstars put us in position to make shots tonight,” Iguodala said.
Curry hit some key 3-pointers in the second half to end up with 20 points and eight assists, sharing team-high honors with Klay Thompson, who also had six assists. Durant tallied 11 points and combined with Curry to shoot 10-for-31 from the field. Fortunately for the Dubs, other players stepped up.
Jerebko missed a shot for the first time in three games, but still made four 3-pointers and McKinnie made three of his own. With Curry and Durant on the bench to start the fourth quarter, both reserves hit 3-pointers and the Dubs actually extended the lead with the superstars on the bench.
The Warriors led for the bulk of the game, but the Bucks rallied to take the lead in the third quarter. But that advantage lasted all of one possession, as a Curry 3-pointer put the Dubs right back in front, igniting an 11-2 run to end the quarter.
The Warriors held the Bucks to a season-low 95 points, their first time all season being held under 100 points. Milwaukee shot 7-for-39 on 3-pointers while the Dubs were 19-for-46 from distance.
“I thought this was our best defensive game of the year,” Head Coach Steve Kerr said. “We were getting after it right from the opening tip.”
At the heart of that defensive effort was Iguodala, who stripped the ball from Giannis Antetokounmpo in the first half and raced the length of the court to finish with a dunk. Iguodala, who knocked down a trio of 3-pointers, had a few more dunks of the highlight variety, including one at the end of the first half in which he inbounded the ball and then sprinted to the basket, received a pass from Klay Thompson and finished with a one-handed hammer.
The dunk gave the Dubs a six-point lead going into the break, and the Warriors would go on to make enough plays down the stretch to pick up their third straight win.
After going 3-2 on the road trip, the Dubs will have the weekend off before coming back home to host the Timberwolves on Monday night at Oracle Arena.
More notable moments from Friday's win:
- Golden State won its season-high tying third straight road contest.
- This marks the 7th straight road trip of five-or-more games the Warriors have recorded a winning record dating back to the 2104-15 season.
- Additionally, the win snapped a two-game losing streak to the Bucks while extending the Warriors winning streak in Milwaukee to three games.
- Golden State recorded its second-straight 30-plus assist game, tallying 32 assists … It’s the third time the Warriors have had 30-plus assists in back-to-back games this season … They are 7-1 overall when handing out 30-plus assists.
- The Warriors held Milwaukee to an opponent season-low 95 points … The Warriors are 3-0 this season in contests when holding opponents under 100 points … They are 111-8 dating back to the 2014-15 season.
- Additionally, the Warriors limited the Bucks to 39.1 percent shooting from the field and is now 3-0 when holding its opponent under 40 percent shooting …. Dating back to the 2014-15 season, they are 67-3 when accomplishing the feat.
- The Warriors attempted 46 three-pointers (19-of-46, 41.3% 3FG), tied for the third–most attempted in a single game in franchise history and the most since setting a franchise-record with 48 versus Charlotte on Feb. 1, 2017.
- Golden State is now 19-1 all-time when connecting on 19-or-more three-pointers.
- The Warriors attempted a season-low seven free throws (6-of-7 FT) … The last time the Warriors had seven or fewer free throw attempts was Jan. 30, 2016 at Philadelphia (franchise-low 2 free throws attempted).
- Andre Iguodala scored a season-high 15 points to go along with a season-high eight rebounds … It’s the second time this season (11/12 at LAC) that the forward has scored in double figures.
- Klay Thompson had a team-high tying 20 points and has scored at least 20 points in 16 of the last 18 games and 17 times overall.
- Stephen Curry scored a team-high tying 20 points … Over the last three games, Curry is averaging 30.6 points on 51.8 percent shooting from the field (28-of-54 FG) and 57.6 percent shooting from beyond the arc (19-of-33 3FG).
- Curry played in his 641st game as a Warrior, matching Adonal Foyle for the seventh-most games played in franchise history.
- Jonas Jerebko has scored 10-or-more points in four of the last five games after recording 12 points tonight … He has scored in double figures nine times this season.
- Kevin Durant scored 11 points, snapping his 14-game 20-plus point scoring streak … It represented his longest such streak of his Warriors career.