The Golden State Warriors 24-game winning streak to the start this season was finally broken against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night. With a 28-18 advantage in the fourth quarter to win 108-95, the Bucks franchise stopped yet another lengthy winning streak. In the 1971-72 season, the Bucks ended the Lakers 33-game winning streak, 120-104.
Obviously, the Warriors and their fans weren’t happy about loss as well as some Cavs fans, who wanted to be the first to defeat Golden State on Christmas Day. Although no one came out to really say it, one Cavalier openly shared that sentiment.
J.R. Smith told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin how he reacted to the Warriors first loss.
“I was upset. I’m not going to lie,” said Smith regarding “When it was a tough game against Boston, I was home watching the game and I was like, ‘Man, y’all got to pull this out. Y’all got to pull this out.’ I wanted them to go undefeated until they played us.
“It had to come to an end sooner or later. They had a hell of a run.”
Smith, however, seemed to be the only one who felt that way about the Warriors loss. LeBron James shared his thoughts on the Warriors loss in Milwaukee with ESPN.
“I’m too much of a guy that sticks in the present. I would be cheating the situation, I would be cheating the progress by worrying about a Christmas Day game when we’re not there yet.
“They played and they’re going to continue to play at a high level,” James told ESPN. “It’s just one loss. I mean, these guys won 24 straight to start the season. So they’ve been playing at a high level. Those guys have no championship hangover and that’s the result of it.”
Head coach David Blattechoed James’ comments in a different way, discussing what the focus must be when on a double digit winning streak or even a two game winning streak.
“But you’re just trying to coach and you’re trying to play in a consistent fashion and not be concerned about the streak. Just be concerned about playing right and playing well. And obviously Golden State did that. They didn’t seem to be too carried away with whatever the streak was.
“But, OK, that’s in the past now. Still obviously a very, very good team, but give credit to Milwaukee. Just shows you how tough this league is.”
Cleveland also fell to Milwaukee on the road on November 14th, which was also a Saturday. They, however, avenged the loss in less than a week, beating down the Bucks at home. The Bucks stand at 10-15, and their biggest wins came against the champions of both conferences. Although their record doesn’t say it, many have considered them to be a big threat to the Cavs in the East if they can put it together under young head coach Jason Kidd. Whether or not they can remains to be seen.
Cleveland has four more games (at Boston, home vs. Oklahoma City, Philadelphia, and New York) before it flies out to Oakland for the Christmas Day game starting at 5 PM EST on ABC.