Warriors use ‘flush it’ mentality to overcome Celtics loss, rout Bucks originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – Any worries about lingering effects from the Warriors’ lopsided loss in Boston on Sunday faded quickly when the Dubs dropped a 40-piece on Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks in the first quarter Wednesday, en route to their own blowout 125-90 victory at Chase Center.
In the immediate aftermath of the loss to the Celtics, Golden State coach Steve Kerr implored his team to “flush it.”
The Warriors did just that even before they left town for the trip back to the West Coast, putting the entire debacle in the rear view mirror. They didn’t do much, if any, film review of the loss and instead focused their attention on Wednesday’s game with the Bucks.
“I think we totally forgot about Sunday when we were in Boston,” Draymond Green said. “We had a great flight home. Fun flight home after a good 3-1 road trip. You never want to let losses stack up, especially at the point of the season we’re at. I can’t remember one person today saying anything about the Boston game or Sunday.”
This was no ordinary bounce-back win.
The Warriors basically had their way against Milwaukee. They withstood an early flurry by Antetokounmpo then held the Bucks off when they made a charge in the fourth quarter.
Other than that, Golden State controlled much of the game and had the Chase Center crowd roaring most of the evening.
And the contributions came up and down the roster.
Playing with a healthy collection for the first time in months, Kerr emptied his bench. Of the 15 Golden State players who got time against Milwaukee, 12 scored at least three points. Five reached double figures, while nine made at least one 3-pointer.
That type of collective effort was huge against the Bucks and will be equally important as the Warriors head down the stretch jockeying for position in the Western Conference.
“I think we’re in a good spot now where we’re able to put together the starting group, which has done a great job here the last month or so, and a second group now that we’re fully healthy with a lot of really talented players,” Kerr said. “You saw that tonight.”
The mood in Dub Nation is vastly different than it was 72 hours ago, when some people on social media acted like Chicken Little following the Boston Blowout.
Not the Warriors players or coaches, however.
They didn’t act as if the sky was falling. They tried to forget pretty much everything that happened during their worst loss of the season and instead set their sights on moving forward.
When the Bucks jumped out to an early lead, there was some thought that maybe Golden State still was feeling the effects of that loss in Boston. But just as quickly as the Warriors said that they put aside the memories of that loss, Milwaukee’s advantage disappeared and the Warriors maintained control pretty much the rest of the way.
It was exactly how they were supposed to react, Green said.
“As I said the other day, you take that [loss in Boston], you flush it and you move on,” Green said. “And I think we did a great job of that. We didn’t watch any film. We didn’t do any of that. We just kept it pushing. It was great for us.”
