MILWAUKEE — As the NBA world heard the news that Giannis Antetokounmpo was a last-minute scratch just before Thursday night’s game because of left knee soreness, the consensus from many was that the Golden State Warriors would cruise to a victory against an undermanned team playing without one of the best players in the game.
Steve Kerr heard the news and got nervous. He was afraid that a hungry team playing with nothing to lose might rise to the challenge without their star, the same way other teams had in recent years against his team. After watching a lackluster effort from his group in a 120-110 loss inside Fiserv Forum, Kerr accepted that his feeling was warranted.
“It shouldn’t be that way,” he said. “‘Cause we’re like 0-12 the last couple years when the stars don’t play. I just told our coaches, if I was an opposing coach, I would just sit the star every time. These are games that, as a coach, as a staff, as soon as you hear that the star is out, you’re terrified ’cause we’ve just seen it a million times. Every NBA team is loaded with talent. You saw those guys out there, firing 3s. Everybody can play in this league, and when the star sits, everybody gets excited. This game did not surprise me, frankly.”
The Warriors got what they deserved Thursday night. They let an inferior team hang around and gain momentum. When they tried to turn up the intensity late in the game, it was too late. They gave up far too many open looks and lost the drive that defined the second half of their stellar performance against the LA Clippers in Tuesday’s win, holding them to 79 points.
How could a team that looked so dominant on one end look so feeble a couple days later? As Curry reflected on the game, it reminded him of his own beginnings with the Warriors in the first few seasons of his career. He lived what it was like playing as an underdog each night with a team that usually didn’t have enough talent on paper. Now, he knows what the opposite end of the spectrum looks like as the team everybody wants to beat — no matter who may or may not be on the floor.
“Once upon a time, that was what the Warriors were, back in ’09-2012 pretty much,” Curry said. “There were certain games where it clicks and some games it was rough. And tonight we saw the game where it clicks. There’s just a free kind of spirited energy you see when a team like that, who’s been playing pretty well coming in, obviously Giannis was playing at a high level, and then all the sudden he’s out and you got guys step up.”
Ryan Rollins was the main guy who rose to the occasion for the Bucks, scoring a career-high 32 points and taking it to his old team all night. Milwaukee looked a step faster and played at ease knowing the expectations for the night disappeared when Antetokounmpo was ruled out. Kerr offered an honest assessment while discussing what he felt the biggest problem was for the group, aside from the spotty defense that defined the performance against a team that shot 47.9 percent from the field.
This Ryan Rollins stepback triple 😮💨
A new career-high (32 PTS) as he seals the Bucks’ home win vs. the Warriors! pic.twitter.com/TgRbuPBe6r
— NBA (@NBA) October 31, 2025
“It looked to me like fatigue,” Kerr said. “Mental, physical fatigue. It did not look like our team out there. Our spacing was bad. It didn’t feel like we had our usual pop. I thought Milwaukee was brilliant.”
The beauty for the Warriors is that they have gotten off to a strong start and can quickly brush off a game early in the season when they weren’t at their best. Players brushed off the idea that fatigue played a role, but Kerr’s point about the schedule, something he expounded upon prior to the game while discussing load management, remains true. The Warriors just wrapped up their sixth game in 10 days over four cities. They just didn’t have what they needed, and they knew it.
“Everybody in this league is an NBA player for a reason,” Warriors forward Jimmy Butler said. “We got to go out there, pay respect to everybody, guard them the way they’re supposed to be guarded, do what you’re supposed to do on both sides of the ball. We did not do that. Came up short.”
The Warriors were frustrated with their performance, but they weren’t feeling low as they walked out of the locker room. There’s always another game in the NBA and the Warriors head to Indianapolis Friday ahead of another against the Pacers Saturday night.
As Butler made his way toward the exit, he wished somebody in the locker room “Happy New Year.” It was unclear exactly why he chose that greeting, but it spoke to the mood of the group. Saturday’s a new day, a new opportunity in a long season. They weren’t about to let one game, in a promising start to the season, get them down.
