The Golden State Warriors is an organisation that has propelled its rankings in the NBA history books with Championships, MVP’s, record breaking numbers and being a modern super team that is considered as being in if not top 3 then certainly top 5 ever. Players have revolutionised today’s NBA in the way the game is played. They’ve brought back to back champions home, winning 3 championships in 4 years. They only have one singular goal in mind. To win.
On November 9th the Golden State Warriors faced the Milwaukee Bucks at the Oracle Arena. To put it bluntly, it was a blowout and not something expectant of an NBA champion team.
The back to back champions with 2x MVP and best 3-point shooter in the game, 2x NBA final MVP and one of the best offensive weapons ever, the second-best shooter in the game and a defensive juggernaut the Golden State have no shortage of stars and fire power. However this game proved that the biggest stumbling block to that illusive three-peat title will be the Warriors themselves, with injuries from Draymond Green and the key bench player Shaun Livingston already out for this game. The depth of the team is weakened but with 3 All stars on the court and 2 of them being MVP winners and 1 of the 2 being a 2x MVP winners, surely the test of the Bucks who boast a very impressive record so far in the NBA championship could be a competitive thriller.
Giannis Antetokounmpo a.k.a the Greek Freak led his team to a win 134-111, with 24 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists. Adding to his approval of possibly being this year’s MVP, his presence in the paint causes teams to shift their focus creating spaces for his perimeter teammates to shoot, especially having the ability to get to the basket in merely 2 steps means he’s an instant threat. Eric Bledsoe also had a great game putting up 26 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists. The Bucks outscored the Warriors in the first 3 quarters with the final quarter having the Warriors only outscoring them by 3 points, by that time it was already over. With 5 of the Bucks players all at least having 15 points in the game, it was going to be a very good night for them. Klay Thompson was the only warrior with above 20 points whilst Kevin Durant had 17 points himself which is unusual of the 2017 NBA finals MVP. The Bucks are the number 1 team in the NBA at making 3-point shots closely followed by the Golden state Warriors, clearly the style the Bucks are adopting is quite reminiscent to the style that made Golden State so revolutionary in their 2015-16 season.
With only 10 points in the game, Steph Curry pulled up injured with what seemed to be a muscle groin injury that came on unexpectedly and coincidentally also happened while he was having a terrible game overall.
It’s come to a few people’s attention that when Curry isn’t being as proficient or playing to his ability, an excuse in the form of an injury usually follows. I believe he was injured, but his performance was truly woeful with 5 for 14 shooting whilst playing 26 mins of basketball, he did manage 6 assists but really didn’t do enough to keep his team in the game.
Overall this might all be blown out of proportion for the Warriors or it might genuinely be a chink in their armour and possibly a way how to beat them. Any doubts that the Bucks are not the real deal should be dispelled as their asserting themselves as an elite team in the NBA. The NBA season so far has been a thriller with the title contending teams not competing at the levels they should and out of contention teams picking themselves by the boots by having relatively winning starts.
