How did lowly Milwaukee halt the Golden State Warriors’ winning streak?

For the last month the entire basketball world has been wondering who, if anybody, would (or indeed could) stop the Golden State Warriors.

The conversation heated up when the Warriors went 16-0 and set the record for the best start in NBA history. And it boiled over as they stubbornly kept refusing to lose.

Many predicted that the Warriors would fall to the Indiana Pacers last Tuesday night, others thought the Boston Celtics would have a shot a few days later. Many thought they could get close to – or break – the NBA record 33 game win streak set by the 1971/’72 Los Angeles Lakers.

Practically nobody had the Milwaukee Bucks as the ones to finally end the Warriors’ winning ways. Why would they? The Bucks were 9-15 heading into Saturday’s game against the 24-0 Warriors and coming off two straight losses.

Abruptly halted

A young and not entirely fully-formed team, the Bucks didn’t look like they had much chance of putting up a fight, let alone handing the Warriors their first loss of the season. Yet the Bucks won, and won big, defeating the Warriors 108-95, and abruptly halting Golden State’s historic run.

So, how did Milwaukee do it? The Bucks mostly outworked Golden State, taking a lead early and forcing their opponents to catch up.

Because their opponent were the Warriors, they did indeed catch up several times throughout the course of the game, but for one of the first times this season Steph Curry and Co couldn't match their opponents' energy. By the closing minutes of the fourth quarter, the game became such a clear blowout that interim head coach Luke Walton did the unthinkable and pulled several of his starters, conceding defeat.

Considering that the game came down to energy, one could argue that the Bucks didn’t beat the Warriors, the schedule did. The Warriors were aiming to become the first NBA team to win seven consecutive road games, introducing an extra degree of difficulty into the equation.

There’s a reason that no team has accomplished this yet: road trips this long are tiring ordeals, both mentally and physically. To compound matters further, Golden State had just squeaked out a grueling double-overtime win over the Boston Celtics the night before at TD Garden.

The circumstances, then, were all in place for an upset, but that alone can’t explain why Milwaukee so soundly defeated Golden State. The Warriors were vulnerable for an upset, yes, but the Bucks had to give it their all in order to put up that final scoreline.

It’s tempting to make excuses for the Warriors though, arguing they were beaten by fatigue and the schedule rather than their opponents. And it’s perhaps hard to give credit to the Bucks, in part, because they just ended the most fun story in basketball in the most anticlimactic manner possible. This wasn’t supposed to be how it ended. The streak was supposed to end on a bigger stage, in a more exciting game against a “worthier” opponent. Maybe, it could have lasted until the NBA Finals rematch against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Christmas Day.

Luckily, there’s another record in play. These Warriors still have a chance at tying or surpassing the 1995/’96 Chicago Bulls’ 72-10 record, the best in NBA history. Considering how long it took for the Warriors to drop their first game, and how many factors had to come in play for it to happen, it’s hard to imagine them losing more than nine games before the end of the season. Guardian service