Warriors fall to Bucks, ending win streak at 28 games

MILWAUKEE — The streak had to end sometime.

So, why not here?

This is the city where the Los Angeles Lakers’ NBA-record streak of 33 wins was snapped on Jan. 9, 1972, and it’s now the city where the Warriors’ captivating run of 28 wins ended Saturday night.

The Warriors didn’t fly around on defense like usual, didn’t make three-pointers like usual and didn’t play with the joy that has made them the most compelling thing in sports for the past six weeks.

They tried, but their bodies wouldn’t let them. A night after a physically and mentally taxing double-overtime victory in Boston, the Warriors looked like exhausted, slow-motion versions of their typically fiery selves in losing 108-95 to the Bucks.

“With what they did to start the season, there’s no reason for anyone to hang their heads in the locker room for losing that game,” Warriors interim head coach Luke Walton said. “They’ve been incredible all year, and losses are going to come. We didn’t have it tonight. That’s why it’s so hard to do what these guys have done.”

A crowd of 18,717 roared in disbelief when Greg Monroe barreled through the lane for a three-point play that gave the Bucks (10-15) a double-digit lead over the Warriors (24-1) with less than three minutes to play.

Maybe they should have believed in the seemingly impossible. Everything about the Warriors’ magical start to defending their 2015 NBA championship has been mind-boggling.

The Warriors secured the second-longest winning streak in NBA history, established league records for best overall start to a season and best road start to a season, and rewrote many of the franchise’s longest-standing standards.

The Warriors became the 284th consecutive team unable to sweep a road trip of at least seven games. Twice in the past three years, they’ve won the first six before losing the finale of a seven-game roadie.

The fans refused to sit when Walton subbed out Shaun Livingston, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green with 1:02 remaining. Curry stood on the sideline with his hands on his hips, soaking in the pain of the moment as the final horn sounded and confetti fell from the rafters.

“I’m not happy it’s over, because it was pretty cool,” Green said. “But it’s almost like a sense of relief. Now we can focus on what we need to focus on. … When you turn on the TV and all you see is ‘Warriors streaking,’ ‘Warriors making history,’ ‘Warriors unbeaten,’ ‘Who’s going to stop them?’ — then, you start believing that.”

Curry finished with 28 points, seven rebounds and five assists, Green added 24 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, and Festus Ezeli had 13 points and eight rebounds. But none of it seemed to matter against a Bucks team hell-bent on beating the Warriors.

Milwaukee got 28 points from Monroe, 19 from Jabari Parker, 18 from O.J. Mayo and 17 from Michael Carter-Williams. Giannis Antetokounmpo added 11 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.

“Streak or no streak, they are the best team in the league until someone knocks them off,” Milwaukee head coach Jason Kidd said. “For us, we didn’t talk about the streak. We talked about playing the world champs.”

The Warriors went into the fourth quarter chasing an 80-77 deficit with Curry and Green resting on the bench. The Bucks’ lead ballooned to 91-79 with 6:57 remaining before Walton called a timeout and reinserted Curry and Green, but it was too late.

The streak was ending.

“What a heck of a run,” Thompson said. “Hopefully, it won’t be done again for a long time. It sucks that it’s over, but it was an amazing run.”