Stephen Curry’s tender tailbone much-improved, the two-time Most Valuable Player led one of those furious finishes that defined the Golden State Warriors in recent years and all those NBA Finals runs.
Kelly Oubre Jr on Tuesday converted a pair of free throws with 7.7 seconds left to give Golden State the lead, and the Milwaukee Bucks missed at the end as the Warriors held them off 122-121.
Curry knocked down a three-pointer with 1 minute, 6 seconds to play on the way to 41 points with five three-pointers, as his team came back late and worked until the final buzzer to snap a three-game losing streak.
Photo: AP
“Honestly, I’m enjoying the night. You could see a lot of emotion tonight from everybody,” Curry said. “We all knew how much we needed this, and you want to maintain that joy and energy and hopefully come Friday, Saturday put together two really good performances, and give yourself a chance to win and sustain that.”
Curry and coach Steve Kerr shared an extra-long hug afterward and exhaled.
“When you lose whatever we’d lost in a row, a win deserves a hug,” Kerr said.
Jrue Holiday scored the go-ahead basket after his offensive rebound with 29 seconds left.
Andrew Wiggins’ driving dunk with 1 minute, 59 seconds to play made it a one-point game, then Golden State got a defensive stop before Kent Bazemore put his team ahead the next time down.
Oubre wound up with 19 points and Bazemore scored 18 in just the Warriors’ second win in nine games. They trailed by 12 late in the third.
“Tonight was a good example of just kind of hanging in there after things had gone south on us and Milwaukee built that big lead in the second half,” Kerr said. “Really loved the energy and just the competitiveness that got us a win.”
Khris Middleton scored 28 points as Milwaukee again missed injured big man Giannis Antetokounmpo. Holiday finished with 29 points and knocked down back-to-back three-pointers that were not quite enough.
In other games on Tuesday, it was:
‧ Hawks 123, Pelicans 107
‧ Lakers 110, Raptors 101
‧ Bulls 113, Pacers 97
‧ 76ers 106, Celtics 96
‧ Grizzlies 124, Heat 112
‧ Nuggets 134, Pistons 119
‧ Clippers 133, Trail Blazers 116
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