
Oakland, Calif - The Milwaukee Bucks capped a three-game Western trip by fading in the fourth quarter and losing to the Golden State Warriors, 119-96, Wednesday night at Oracle Arena.
The Bucks (9-15) lost all three games on the trip. Michael Redd led the Bucks with 27 points while seven Warriors scored in double figures.
The Warriors shot 61.9% and led after one quarter, 30-22. Stephen Jackson, playing with an injured left hand, scored Golden State's first seven points of the second quarter as the Warriors extended their lead to 37-24. But the Bucks hung around and were within three, 45-42, after and basket and two free throws by Charlie Villanueva. The Warriors led at halftime, 55-50.
A three-pointer each by Anthony Morrow and Jackson helped the Warriors extend their lead to 66-52 early in the third. But with the Warriors misfiring from outside, the Bucks came back to tie it at 78-78 late in the quarter on a fast-break dunk by Redd. Golden State took an 82-81 lead into the fourth. The Warriors opened the fourth quarter on a 14-3 run as Milwaukee made one of its first eight shots with two turnovers.
It was the sixth straight road loss for the Bucks who are now 4-11 on the road.
When the league's schedule was released last summer, coach Scott Skiles wasted no time in setting an immediate goal for the Bucks.
They had to become a better road team this season.
It was the only way the Bucks would be able to keep their heads above water during the road-heavy early portion of the schedule that they are trying to navigate their way through now.
"It's what good teams do," said Skiles. "If you want to be a good team, you don't win 30 road games out of 41 but you try to be a .500 road team and then dominate your home court.
"But it's not only about wins and losses. We're trying to play a certain way and that way recently has been a little disappointing. We haven't had the same mentality (on the road) that we've had at home. We've got to make sure we don't have any slippage in that area."
Winning only seven games away from home last season, the Bucks were one of the worst road teams in the league. And when this season's schedule showed the Bucks playing 18 of its first 28 games on the road for the first time in franchise history, it became clear that they would have to find a way to win on the road if they were to avoid falling into a deep early-season hole.
Which is just what they are trying to avoid now.
Early on, it looked as if the Bucks would be a solid road team as they won three of their first six road games over the first three weeks.
They tacked on another road victory at Charlotte but after that they began to falter on the road.
Some nights, it was their defense that let them down. But in other games, like the one against the Lakers last Sunday, the Bucks had difficulty scoring and their spirits sagged when the shots didn't fall.
"The thing is, we clearly got down (against the Lakers) when we couldn't make our shots," said Skiles. "Of our first 22 shots, 19 of them were just naked, wide-open shots. We just missed them."
Which is where a team's mental toughness plays a role.
"It's a factor in all sports, particularly pro sports," said Skiles.
"Generally the teams that are more mentally tough over a long NBA season are going to be teams that are winning teams. That's just the way it is. There's a lot of stuff that guys go through. The tougher you are and the more resilient you are, and how confident you are, it all goes hand in hand. "
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