Golden State Warrior rookie center James Wiseman (33) goes for the throw down against the Milwaukee Bucks on Fri Dec 25, 2020 in Milwaukee (@warriors photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors met the Milwaukee Bucks on Christmas Day at the FiServe Arena in Milwaukee. The Bucks, one of the best teams in the NBA, blew out the Warriors 138-99. Draymond Green did not play due to a sore foot. Golden State hopes he will play in Chicago on Sunday.

The Warriors have been blown out in their first two games of the season. Their start has been similar to an ice cream flavor, a very Rocky Road. 

The Warriors were no match for the Bucks on Friday. They lost the first quarter 33-25. Steph Curry could not get anything going. He scored seven points. Five were free throws, and he had one two-point bucket. Andrew Wiggins scored a bucket, but Kelly Oubre did not score. 

The Warriors played better in the second period. They played the Bucks evenly and lost the period 33-31. The rookie center, James Wiseman, played well. He finished the first half with fourteen points, four rebounds, and two blocked shots. Wiggins had six in the quarter, and Steph finished the half with fifteen. Milwaukee owns a ten-point advantage 66-56.

During the Warriors’ great five-year run, they owned the second half, especially the third quarter. The Warrior mojo disappeared Friday afternoon. The Bucks put on an offensive display as they crushed the Warriors in the second half. They outscored the Warriors 73-43 in the final 24 minutes of the game. The Warriors did not quit. They played hard, but their offense was non-existent. Milwaukee won by 39 points 138-99.

Game Notes and Stats: Even though the Bucks blew out the Dubs, there were some bright spots. James Wiseman continued to impress. He tallied 18 points, eight rebounds in 25 minutes of action.

James was 5-11 from the floor and made three threes. He also blocked three shots. Curry kicked in with nineteen. It was not Steph’s night. He was six-for-16 from the floor and made two threes in ten tries. Andrew Wiggins played better than he did against Brooklyn. He ended with twelve points and six rebounds. Kelly Oubre tried but did not have success. He put three points on the board. He was one-for-10 from the floor and 0-for four from three-point range. 

Bench players Brad Wanamaker, Jordan Poole, and Damion Lee tallied 11, 11, and 9, respectively.

Kris Middleton led the Bucks with 31. Two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokoumpo scored fifteen. He had thirteen rebounds. Donte DiVincenzo had thirteen, Jrue Holiday twelve, Bobby Portis ten, and D.J. Augustin thirteen.

The Warriors shot just 34% from the floor. The Bucks shot 54%. Teams that shoot 34% will not win many games in the NBA. The Warriors made ten threes. Milwaukee had twenty threes. The Bucks won the boards 69-49.

The Warriors move onto Chicago to face the Bulls Sunday night. The game will start at 5:00 pm.

In Memoriam- The NBA announced that Boston Celtic legend K.C.Jones, who was 88, passed away. Jones, who is in the NBA’s Hall of Fame, won eight championships with the Boston Celtics as a player and two more as a coach.