Bucks 109, Warriors 102
By Andrew Wagner, The Sports Xchange
MILWAUKEE, Wis. -- Brandon Jennings scored 18 of his 20 points in the third quarter, erasing a four-point halftime deficit as the Bucks beat Golden State, 109-102, Saturday at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
After attempting just one shot in the first half, Jennings' back-to-back three-pointers midway through the third quarter were the turning point in what had been a close game to that point. He went 6 of 9 from the field during the quarter, including five three-pointers.
Ersan Ilyasova also switched gears in the second half, scoring 12 of his 18 points after intermission while pulling down 12 rebounds. Larry Sanders added 16 and 12 for Milwaukee (23-19), which won for the fourth time in five games and improved to 7-3 under head coach Jim Boylan.
Facing his former team, Monta Ellis struggled early, making just 1 of his first 8 shots but finished with 20 points.
Stephen Curry had 26 points and 7 assists and Klay Thompson scored 19 to lead Golden State (26-17), which shot well for most of the game but couldn't contain Jennings during the third. Despite shooting 54.2 percent from the field, the Warriors scored just 19 points and fell behind by as many as 13 during the quarter, which ended with Milwaukee leading, 86-74.
Golden State, though, was far from done.
The Warriors cut the lead to four early in the fourth, making it an 86-82 game on Richard Jefferson's layup with 9:38 to play. After Luc Richard Mbah a Moute made just one of two free throws, Golden State came up empty three times on its next possession and Larry Sanders his a short jumper to put Milwaukee back up seven, 89-82, with 8:45 left.
After falling behind by 12, Golden State tried to work its way back into the game. Carl Landry's dunk made it a six-point game with 4:39 left, but once again, the Bucks came back and went out by seven, making it a 100-93 game on Ellis' jumper with two minutes left.
Jarrett Jack brought the Warriors within two on a three-pointer with 52 seconds to play but Ellis answered with a three of his own and Milwaukee converted all six of its free throws down the stretch to close out the victory.
NOTES: Milwaukee has scored 100 points or more in six of nine games under head coach Jim Boylan. ... Golden State's Stephen Curry is one of just three players averaging at least 20 points, six assists and four rebounds per game. He has scored at least 20 points in each of his last seven games. ... Saturday marked the return of Andrew Bogut to Milwaukee, where he played his first six seasons before being traded to Golden State last March. Bogut is still recovering from microfracture surgery he underwent in April. The top overall pick in the 2005 draft, Bogut appeared in 208 games for Milwaukee, averaging 12.7 points, 9.3 rebounds and blocking 642 shots. ... Milwaukee's Ersan Ilyasova is averaging 28.0 points in his last three games. ... Golden State has not won a season series against Milwaukee since 2007-08. ... The Bucks' Larry Sanders has at least one block in each of the last 28 games and in 39 of 40 this season, the second-longest active streak in the NBA.
