Milwaukee -- After losing three consecutive games over the past four days, the Milwaukee Bucks responded on Saturday night to defeat the Golden State Warriors 127-120 at the Bradley Center.
With the Chicago Bulls idle, the Bucks’ win inches them a half-game closer to regaining the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Richard Jefferson led all scorers with a season-high 36 points, as seven Milwaukee players scored in double figures.
High scoring games are nothing new for Golden State. The Warriors rank second in the National Basketball Association in points scored per game (107.6), but also lead the league in points allowed per game (111.3).
“Whenever you’re playing against Golden state, it’s similar to the Phoenix Suns, where it’s going to be a high-scoring game,” Jefferson said. “You try and play up-tempo, but you don’t wanna get too crazy jacking shots with them. I thought Ramon (Sessions) and Luke (Ridnour) did a good job of playing at the pace that we needed.”
Along with scoring 15 points, Ramon Sessions delivered nine assists without committing any turnovers. Milwaukee forced 20 turnovers, while only giving up nine.
“Maybe the main reason we even have the wins we have is we force a lot of turnovers and a lot of games don’t turn it over very much,” Bucks coach Scott Skiles said. “We’ve taken pretty good care of the ball. We force turnovers. We lead the league in that and it’s been a big factor for us.”
With the win over Golden State, the Bucks kicked off its season-long six-game home stand and improved to 19-12 at the Bradley Center this season.
“We need to win a big share of our home games,” Skiles said. “We need to do the best we can to win every one we can get here.”
“This was a big win for us just because it starts our home stand and we need to keep it going,” Bucks guard Luke Ridnour said. “We have an opportunity to try and take advantage and get it done while we’re here.”
Golden State entered the game with an extensive injury report. Starting center Andris Biedrins, who ranks fifth in the NBA with 11.6 rebounds per game, was not with the team due to personal reasons. The Warriors were also without starting point guard Monta Ellis (left ankle stiffness), Brandan Wright (partial dislocation, left shoulder), and Kelenna Azubuike (mid-back strain).
Warriors coach Don Nelson found a good way to describe his team’s situation after Golden State’s loss to Detroit on Thursday night, and found it fitting to use again. “Did you miss my line (from last night)? We were in a gun fight with a knife,” Nelson said.
Despite being listed as questionable, both Stephen Jackson (strained right hamstring) and Corey Maggette (sprained right ankle) were able to play. Jackson tied a season-high of 11 assists to go along with 23 points, but turned the ball over seven times. Maggette finished with 22 points, five assists, and five rebounds.
The Bucks led by five points after the first quarter, and extended its lead to nine at halftime. Milwaukee held a 13 point lead with just over nine minutes remaining in the game, but Jamal Crawford hit four three-point shots in the fourth quarter and led Golden State on a 15-2 run to tie the game 104-104 with six minutes left.
With two minutes to go and the Bucks now up five, Ramon Sessions and Charlie Villanueva hit back-to-back three point shots to put the game out of reach.
The Bucks (30-36) have two days off before hosting Nate Robinson and the New York Knicks (25-36) on Tuesday night at the Bradley Center.
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