Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr admits they lost Saturday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks in the fourth quarter, and Khris Middleton is a big reason for that.
The Bucks scored 46 points in the final period, allowing them to beat the Warriors who scored just 36 in the frame. The fourth quarter started with Milwaukee ahead by only two points, and the two teams went into a back-and-forth and even found themselves tied at 96-all with eight minutes to go.
A little over six minutes later, however, the Bucks were in complete control and ahead 120-110. Since the Jonathan Kuminga triple that tied the game at the eighth-minute mark, the two teams never found themselves on equal footing once again. Milwaukee went on to outscore Golden State 33-20 to secure the 129-118 win.
Giannis Antetokounmpo and Middleton led the way for the Bucks in that incredible run, with the former scoring 15 and the latter with 13 in the fourth quarter. Rookie Andre Jackson Jr. was also sensational with his eight points in the period to go along with six boards.
Speaking to reporters postgame, Steve Kerr admitted that Khris Middleton’s involvement allowed the Milwaukee Bucks to dominate. It basically scattered the Dubs’ defense since they had to deal with Middleton as well on top of Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard.
“The guys competed really hard. A tough back-to-back, playing against a great team, I thought we really gave a great effort. The game really slipped away from us in the fourth. They scored 46 points,” Kerr explained, per NBC Sports. “It felt like we had decent control of the game, defensively, until that fourth. And then, they got loose.
“There were a couple breakdowns. The key was Khris Middleton got going. And when he got hot during that stretch, that helped Giannis get free because we had to pay so much attention to Khris.”
Middleton finished with 24 points, along with three rebounds, 10 assists, one steal and one block. Antetokounmpo had a 33/9/5 stat line, while Lillard finished with 27/6/7.
With that amazing offensive display, it’s understandable why Kerr and his Golden State Warriors couldn’t figure out the Bucks. There’s just no stopping them when they get going offensively.
Damian Lillard Happy With Milwaukee Bucks’ Display
For what it’s worth, Damian Lillard is pretty satisfied with how the Milwaukee Bucks performed in the fourth quarter. After all, it shows the quality of the team and what they are capable of.
Nonetheless, he didn’t hide his desire for the team to improve more, realizing that they can’t always rely on having big runs like that since it’s not sustainable.
“I think that just shows our ability. We can have stretches like that. It’s understanding the beauty of that but not leaning on that too much, because it’s not too often you can go into a quarter and say we’re going to make 19 field goals. That doesn’t happen often, no matter how good you are,” Lillard shared on their 46-point fourth quarter, via Bally Sports.
Sure enough, while it’s nice to see Khris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo and the rest of the team dominate, they need to be more consistent if they want to contend for the title. Defense remains an issue, and it’s something they have to address in order to make sure their offense doesn’t always have to carry the burden of winning games.
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