A week ago, the Bucks ended the Warriors’ win streak at 24 games. They caught Golden State on a bad night, they rose to the still-massive challenge and they broke history. The win was a pretty awesome moment in an otherwise rocky early season for Milwaukee, and they had an appropriate amount of fun doing it on their home floor:
The Bucks pissed off the Warriors. Now they have to play them again.
Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Michael Carter-Williams puts the nail in the coffin! https://t.co/BOunrzcUKB
— Bleacher Report NBA (@BR_NBA) December 13, 2015 Nobody can ever take that night away from the Bucks. Two problems, though:
1. Just six days after that upset -- tonight! -- the Bucks play the since-undefeated Warriors again in Golden State.
2. The Warriors run on rancor. They love to feel hated and, even after winning a ring and setting sail on another great season, actively cultivate animus to avoid ever losing an underdog’s edge. We’re talking about a team that populates its group text message chain with links to doubtful articles and haterific headlines.
So, it comes as no surprise that the Warriors have processed the sting of recent defeat and visions of that fairly tame Michael Carter-Williams celebration into pure, seething spite. Ethan Strauss wrote on this for ESPN. Here’s Steph Curry:
“Oh, it was a nice celebration. We do remember that stuff,” reigning MVP Stephen Curry said Wednesday night after a 128-103 win over the Phoenix Suns. “We were kind of laughing at some of the stuff going on. It was a big game for them. Friday will be a big game for us.”
Draymond Green couldn’t resist the opportunity to roast Carter-Williams:
“Michael Carter-Williams getting a dunk at the end of the game and looking at our bench like, ‘Dude you lost your spot,’” Green said of Carter-Williams losing his job as a starter. “So, it’s not quite common that you should be looking toward someone’s bench yelling. You’ve got some ground to make up.”
And Klay Thompson played the “class” card:
Klay Thompson: "We thought at the time they could have won with a little more class some of those guys, but I'd have been fired up too."
— Diamond Leung (@diamond83) December 17, 2015 Klay Thompson on MCW: "The staredown & trying to talk mess @ the end of the game like that, it's like alright, u realize u see us next Fri."
— Diamond Leung (@diamond83) December 17, 2015 I seriously think the Warriors’ greatest spiritual virtue is this ability to feel bitter and act petty about matters well below their domain. An NBA regular season is a long slog that invites periods of half-assery, but Golden State is determined not to fall into those doldrums.
They seem intent on winning every single game no matter how much it matters. That’s special, and it takes a special amount of zeal. Like, the kind of zeal that leaves multiple superstars sneering about a mediocre player on a mediocre team enjoying a meaningless basket in a relatively meaningless game. The byproduct of that molehill-to-mountain conversion fuels Golden State’s greatness.
My point is, the Warriors are going to absolutely destroy the Bucks on Friday night. It’s going to be gruesome.
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