Bucks trounce Warriors

MILWAUKEE » Khris Middleton scored 31 points and the Milwaukee Bucks routed the Golden State Warriors 138-99 on Friday to win their first Christmas Day home game in over half a century.

Middleton went 6 for 8 from 3-point range, leading a strong performance from deep for his team. Milwaukee was 20 of 37 from beyond the arc, while Golden State was 10 of 45.

The Warriors were outscored by 65 points in their first two games, the second-highest total in NBA history through two games to 71 points for the 1987-88 Clippers. Golden State lost 125-99 at Brooklyn in its season opener.

Milwaukee’s only other Christmas home game came during the franchise’s inaugural season in 1968. The Bucks were on the road for Christmas the last two seasons, losing at Philadelphia in 2019 and winning at New York in 2018.

Bucks players got a Christmas surprise before the game when they received videotaped messages from their families in a move orchestrated by team officials.

Then they went out and delivered a dominant performance to bounce back from a season-opening 122-121 loss at Boston in which Celtics star Jayson Tatum banked in a go-ahead 3-pointer and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo missed a potential tying free throw in the final second.

Antetkounmpo had 15 points and 13 rebounds against Golden State, but the two-time reigning NBA MVP shot 4 of 15 from the floor and 7 of 15 from the foul line.

Stephen Curry scored 19 points for Golden State, and rookie James Wiseman had 18. Andrew Wiggins had 12 and Brad Wanamaker added 11.

Donte DiVincenzo and D.J. Augustin each scored 13 for Milwaukee. Jrue Holiday had 12 and Bobby Portis added 10.