LOS ANGELES — The Golden State Warriors suffered their first defeat of the season Saturday with a shocking 108-95 loss to the last-place Milwaukee Bucks, halting their season-opening win streak at 24 games.
The stunning defeat came at the end of a grueling seven-game road trip for the weary Warriors, who needed a double overtime marathon to beat the Boston Celtics Friday and extend the streak to 28 straight regular season wins dating back to last season.
“Losing sucks even if you are 24-1,” said Warriors interim head coach Luke Walton of the loss to the lowly Bucks.
The Warriors fell just five wins shy of equaling the NBA all-time record of 33 straight victories set by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1971-72 season.
Golden States’ win streak stands as the second longest in league history, and the longest to start a season. It has been 2 1/2 weeks since they set the record for the best start in history at 16-0.
In a strange twist of flashback fate, the Bucks were also the team that ended the Lakers’ streak with a 120-104 victory on January 9, 1972.
Reigning NBA MVP Curry paced the Warriors’ attack with a team high 28 points in front of a crowd of 18,700 at Harris Bradley Center arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Both clubs were playing the back end of consecutive Friday-Saturday contests.
But Bucks were able to battle through the fatigue better than Golden State, who were hoping to become the first NBA team to sweep a seven-game road trip.
Golden State knew it wouldn’t be easy as they were coming off their most trying contest of the season, a hard-fought 124-119 win over the Celtics in Boston.
The Warriors shot just 40.9 percent from the field and only six-for-26 from beyond the arc.
The Bucks improved to just 10-15 on the season as they sit in last in the Cental Division.
Center Greg Monroe tallied 28 points and 11 rebounds for the Bucks, who looked surprisingly fresh after losing 90-83 in Toronto Friday.
Pistons 118, Pacers 96: Reggie Jackson led six Detroit players in double figures with 21 points and the Pistons rolled to a 118-96 victory over the Indiana Pacers at The Palace.
Jackson also dished out nine assists while backcourt partner Kentavious Caldwell-Pope approached a triple-double with 18 points, seven rebounds and a career-high eight assists.
Celtics 98, Hornets 93: Avery Bradley scored 23 points and Isaiah Thomas tallied 21 points and 13 assists as the Boston Celtics snapped the Charlotte Hornets’ four-game winning streak with a 98-93 victory.
The Celtics (14-10) bounced back from a draining double-overtime loss to Golden State. It is the fourth straight time this season the Celtics have won on the second night of a back-to-back.
Clippers 105, Nets 100: The Los Angeles Clippers led almost wire to wire for their first-ever win in Brooklyn, defeating the Nets 105-100 at Barclays Center.
J.J. Redick and Blake Griffin (nine rebounds) scored 21 points apiece to pace the Clippers, whose only other road win against the Nets came in East Rutherford, N.J., on Dec. 11, 2007.
Spurs 103, Hawks 78: The San Antonion Spurs — the NBA’s top defensive team — held Atlanta to 25 points in the first half and romped to a 103-78 victory over the Hawks.
Kawhi Leonard scored 22 points to lead San Antonio in scoring for the 15th time. Manu Ginobili added 17 off the bench for the Spurs, who led by as many as 28 in the third quarter.
Other results: Rockets 126, Lakers 97; Bulls 98, Pelicans 94; Wizards 114, Mavericks 111. — Agencies
