The nearly-perfect Warriors have just one blemish on their 2015-16 record, and they avenged that rare disappointment in fine form on Friday night.
Now 26-1 on the season as a whole, Golden State overcame a 15-point deficit in the second half by overwhelming Milwaukee with a 36-19 blitz in the fourth quarter. That enabled the Warriors to post a 121-112 win over the Bucks, who gave Golden State its only loss of the season just one week ago.
When the Bucks put the finishing touches on that 108-95 victory last Saturday, an entire section of Bucks fans — including Mallory Edens, the daughter of Milwaukee co-owner Wesley Edens — wore green “24-1” T-shirts to celebrate the statement win. The Bucks’ Twitter account also tweeted out a picture of fans wearing the shirts.
The streak stoppers. #FearTheDeer pic.twitter.com/3niHqiwlL0
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) December 13, 2015
Before Friday’s rematch, however, local clothing companies in the Bay Area printed custom T-shirts for fans at Oracle Arena to mock the Bucks’ subpar 10-18 record.
Bucks trolled by @0aklandish with 10-18 T-shirt for Warriors game tonight to counter 24-1 T-shirts Bucks fans wore. pic.twitter.com/OdHEFslcBE — Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) December 18, 2015
The Bucks were 10-17 heading into the game, so for accuracy’s sake, the shirts were banking on a Golden State win to add another loss to Milwaukee’s total. As usual, the Warriors — led by 27 points from Klay Thompson and 26 from Stephen Curry — delivered.
“We didn’t print those shirts,” Warriors interim coach Luke Walton said, according to Yahoo! Sports. “I didn’t even see them during the game in Milwaukee. I saw it on [television]. But that is part of the fun of what we do. We play in front of thousands of people. Home crowds make pretty good signs and T-shirts. That’s part of the game.”
Ben DuBose is a veteran sports reporter who has followed the Houston Rockets and the NBA since Hakeem Olajuwon was Akeem Olajuwon. He writes for both SheridanHoops and ClutchFans, an independent Rockets blog. You can follow him on Twitter.