Warriors streak ends, Bucks win 108-95

Dave Boehler | Special for USA TODAY Sports

Show Caption Hide Caption History still in the cards for the Golden State Warriors USA TODAY Sports' Sam Amick talks about how the Warriors could still make history this season.

MILWAUKEE — Golden State’s historic run is finally over.

The Warriors, who set an NBA record by winning their first 24 games, suffered a 108-95 loss at Milwaukee on Saturday night.

“What they did to start this season, there’s no reason for anyone to hang their head in that locker room for losing that game,” Golden State interim coach Luke Walton said. “They’ve been incredible all year. Losses are going to come. We didn’t have it tonight. That’s why is so hard to do what these guys have done so far. Tonight it caught up to us. We didn’t have our shots falling, we were a little slow on our defensive rotations, and that happens. It takes nothing away from what they did to start the season.

“Losing sucks. Even if you’re 24-1, losing still sucks. But I’m sure the long flight home, tomorrow off, guys just kind of unwinding a little bit, I bet there’ll a little bit of relief mentally going forward from this point on. It was a lot of fun.”

Also over is the team’s 28-game regular-season winning streak which ranks second all-time in league history. The Los Angeles Lakers hold the record of 33, which was set in the 1971-’72 season and was halted by the Bucks as well.

Stephen Curry scored 28 points for Golden State (24-1), which was held to a season low for points. The Warriors also got 24 points and 11 rebounds from Draymond Green.

Afterward, Green addressed the team in the locker room.

“I just told the guys that now we can have a regular season,” Green said. “It’s been kind of a playoff feel just with the streak, all the media around, all the attention around.”

Milwaukee (10-15) was led by Greg Monroe, who had 11 rebounds, five assists and shot 11-for-16 from the floor for 28 points.

Giannis Antetokounmpo added 11 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for the Bucks’ first triple double since Larry Sanders on Nov. 30, 2012.

With four of Golden State’s starters on the bench for the first 5-plus minutes of the final quarter — Klay Thompson was in — the Warriors watched the Bucks use an 11-2 run to take a 91-79 lead on a jumper by Johnny O’Bryant.

That made Walton call timeout with 6:57 to go and insert his regulars.

But that didn’t help.

A reverse layup by Monroe gave Milwaukee a 95-82 lead with 5:29 left.

With 1:15 remaining and the Bucks ahead by 11, the sellout crowd rose to its feet to voice its approval and remained standing until the final buzzer.

“For us, we didn’t talk about the streak,” Milwaukee coach Jason Kidd said. “We talked about playing the World Champs and no matter what, we have to play our best. The guys responded.”

Golden State also set a NBA record by winning its first 14 road games and was attempting to become the first team ever to sweep a seven-game road trip.

But after playing at Utah Nov. 30 and then going to Charlotte, Toronto, Brooklyn, Indiana, Boston and Milwaukee, Golden State is just happy to be going home. The Warriors are off until Wednesday, when Phoenix visits.

“Obviously nobody wanted it to end and you want every night for it to be another notch in that belt for the streak,” Curry said. “But ending up with our first loss, you can kind of appreciate what we were able to accomplish. I think we can re-focus on not just winning games, but how we’re playing. The last week or so, with the road trip and things, we just found ways to win games but I don’t think we ever played our A-plus game.”