NBA Special: Monta Ellis dominates as the Warriors crush the Bucks
Monta Ellis contributed game-high 24 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds in the Golden State Warriors 100-94 victory over Milwaukee Bucks at Thursday night at ORACLE Arena.
Warriors coach, Keith Smart, said of Ellis, "The guy has done everything he needs to and has played as hard as he can and did everything the right way," "It's a little disappointing."
Guard Stephen Curry and forward Dorell Wright scored 16 apiece in the Warriors 21st victor of the season 2010/11.
David Lee posted 15 points while Reggie Williams ended with 13 points for the Warriors, which snapped a four-game slide against the Bucks.
The Bucks played their second consecutive game without starting centre, Andrew Bogut, who is suffering from right knee contusion.
Ersan Ilyasova did all he could as he registered 23 points and 13 rebounds for the Bucks, who lost the 29th game of the current season.
Luc Mbah a Moute played well as he had a double-double with 19 rebounds and 15 points in the defeat.
Corey Maggette netted 21 points while Carlos Delfino totalled 20 points for Milwaukee, who lost their third straight contest of the season.
Game Story
In the first quarter, the Bucks played sloppy basketball but they slowly began to build their lead, taking a 22-18 lead into the second. Milwaukee did not play well offensively in the first but once again, they found a way.
The Bucks extended their offensive play to the second quarter as they got an impressive shooting touch from Ellis. However, the Warriors fought hard as they successfully cut the deficit to 47-46 at the intermission.
Milwaukee and Golden State entered the third stanza ice cold, scoring 26 possessions apiece. The Bucks managed to take a 73-72 lead into the final stanza.
The Warriors came on strong in the fourth quarter as they recovered from their mistakes by turning up their defensive intensity again and continuing their balanced scoring attack.
Golden State answered with a 6-0 run to tie the game at 86-86. However, Stephen Curry then hit a jumper to put the Warriors ahead by 2 points (88-86) with four minutes remaining in the final buzzer.
The Bucks got some excellent opportunities to cut the gap but Delfino missed a three-pointer at crucial moment and Mbah a Moute turned the ball over.
Bucks coach, Scott Skiles, admitted that they could not get advantage of some very easy available opportunities as he stated, "We had so many opportunities, so many open-floor fast-break opportunities that we kind of kicked away," "We took some wide-open
shots and had a couple of three-on-ones and came up empty-handed."
Maggette tried hard in the last minute as he made two free throws and a jumper to cut the lead to 94-92 with 33 seconds to go. The Warriors finally went on a four-point contest to seal the victory.
While talking about the weak defence, which allowed the Warriors to shoot 50 percent from long range, Scott Skiles said, "We played hard, there is no doubt about that, but we were a little slow a couple times getting out to their shooters. Those guys are
good shooters. That's their game."
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