Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors drives to the basket against the Milwaukee Bucks at ORACLE Arena on December 18, 2015 in Oakland, California.
DPA/Los Angeles
The Golden State Warriors were out for revenge but were nearly beaten for the second time in a week by the upset-minded Milwaukee Bucks.
Reigning league MVP Stephen Curry had 26 with 10 rebounds and nine assists Friday, and the Warriors rallied for a 121-112 victory over the lowly Bucks.
The Bucks (10-18) snapped the Warriors’ epic 28-game winning streak dating back to last season on Saturday. They were on the verge of ending Golden State’s 29-game home success, including a 12-0 start before the defending champs found their game.
“Two games in a row we haven’t come out with focus,” Curry said. “We didn’t have that aggressiveness and physicality we needed until the final 10 minutes of this game. You don’t play with fight you’re not going to have success against them.”
Klay Thompson had a game-high 27 points while Draymond Green accumulated 21, nine rebounds and eight assist for Golden State (26-1) which outscored its guests 36-19 in the decisive fourth quarter.
“We made it public we wanted revenge but didn’t come out with that mentality,” Warriors intrim head coach Luke Walton said. “They’re no going to fold just because we said it.
“They came out they wanted apiece of the champs. They scored 70 points in the first half and that’s not who we are. We just challenged them. Our guys turned it up and gave them 42 points in the second half.”
Golden State trailed 70-58 at halftime and by 11 with just under seven minutes remaining. But Green netted nine points and Curry added six to spark a 19-6 surge, giving the Warriors a 108-106 edge with 2:55 left.
After Milwaukee squared it on a Greg Monroe layin, Curry hit the tie-breaking layup and added two free throws while Andre Iguodala buried a corner triple to ignite a 13-2 closing run, and the Warriors handed the Bucks their 12th straight road loss.
Michael Carter-Williams led Milwaukee with 24 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo added 20.
Elsewhere:
Detroit Pistons 147, Chicago Bulls 144 (4 OT): Andre Drummond had 33 points and 21 rebounds, Reggie Jackson netted 14 of his 31 in the fourth overtime, including two free throws with four seconds left and the visiting Pistons outlasted the Bulls despite Jimmy Butler’s career-high 43 points.
Derrick Rose added a season-best 34 points while Spaniard Pau Gasol contributed 30 and 15 rebounds for Chicago, which had won its previous four games.
Indiana Pacers 104, Brooklyn Nets 97: Paul George scored 23 points, Jordan Hill had 10 of his 14 in the final quarter along with 11 rebounds off the bench, and the Pacers won their third in a row after clipping the visiting Nets (7-18) led by Jarrett Jack’s game-high 26 points.
Toronto Raptors 108, Miami Heat 94: DeMar DeRozan scored 30 points, Kyle Lowry had 21 and the visiting Raptors used a domininant 58-39 second half to beat the Heat.
New York Knicks 107, Philadelphia 76ers 97: Arron Afflalo scored 22 points, reserve Derrick Williams added 17, and the visiting Knicks (13-14) led by 22 at halftime en route to sending the league-worst Sixers (1-27) to a ninth straight loss.
Atlanta Hawks 109, Boston Celtics 101: Germany’s Dennis Schroder scored 22 points, Paul Millsap added 15 of his 20 in the final quarter, including the tie-breaking three-point play down the stretch, carrying the visiting Hawks over the Celtics.
Isaiah Thomas scored 29 for the Celtics while Jae Crowder added career-high 24 with 10 rebounds.
Minnesota Timberwolves 99, Sacramento Kings 95: Andrew Wiggins had 32 points with 10 rebounds, and the Timberwolves topped the visiting Kings for just their second win in the last 10 games
DeMarcus Cousins had 24 points, 11 rebounds for Sacramento, which had its three-game winning streak snapped.
Orlando Magic 102, Portland Trail Blazers 94: Tobias Harris had 24 with 12 rebounds, Nik Vucevic added 24 and 11 boards, carrying the Magic to its third straight win after beating the visiting Trail Blazers despite CJ McCollum’s game-high 29 points.
Dallas Mavericks 97, Memphis Grizzlies 88: German juggernaut Dirk Nowitzki scored 20 points, Zaza Pachulia had 10 with 18 rebounds, and the Mavericks handed the visiting Grizzlies their fourth loss in the last five games.
San Antonio Spurs 115, LA Clippers 107: LaMarcus Aldridge had 26 points with 13 rebounds, Frenchman Tony Parker netted 21 and Kawhi Leonard added 19, as the Spurs moved to 15-0 at home after holding off the Clippers.
Chris Paul paced the Clippers with 27 points and 10 assists. Blake Griffin netted 25 while DeAndre Jordan finished with 16 and 17 boards.
Utah 97, Denver Nuggets 88: Gordon Hayward scored 26 points and the Jazz snapped its four-game slide while ending the visiting Nuggets’ season-best four-game success.
Phoenix Suns 104, New Orlenas Pelicans 88: Eric Bledsoe scored 29 points, Alex Len added 19 with 13 rebounds, and the Suns beat the Pelicans for the first time in three meetings this season.
