Milwaukee, WI – Monta Ellis put the dagger in his former team with a late 3-pointer, as the Milwaukee Bucks edged the Golden State Warriors, 109-102, at Bradley Center.
Ellis and Brandon Jennings poured in 20 points apiece in the Bucks' seventh win in 10 games under head coach Jim Boylan.
Ersan Ilyasova and Larry Sanders each posted double-doubles in the victory, with the former totaling 18 points and 12 rebounds and the latter chipping in 16 points, 11 boards and three blocks.
Golden State has dropped the first two tests on its four-game road trip. Stephen Curry paced the Warriors with 26 points to go with seven assists.
There were seven lead changes and 10 ties before Jennings erupted for 18 points in the final 10:04 of the third quarter. The guard drained three shots from outside the arc during a 13-2 run that gave Milwaukee a 76-65 lead with five minutes left in the frame.
"We needed to score, so (Jennings) came out in the second half and did what he needed to do for our team," Boylan said.
It was an 86-74 game heading into the fourth quarter, and the Bucks played front-runner the rest of the way.
A Jarrett Jack 3-pointer with under a minute to play cut the Warriors' deficit to 100-98, but Ellis -- who was traded from Golden State to Milwaukee last March -- sealed the victory with a 25-footer with 32.7 seconds remaining.
"We just didn't think we had the effort tonight for 48 minutes to come in here and get a win on the road," Jack said. "We kind of had a little down period in the third quarter and they made tough shots to go with it."
The highlight of the first quarter was Golden State's Harrison Barnes throwing down a monster dunk over Ilyasova early on. Richard Jefferson beat the opening-quarter buzzer for a 26-23 Warriors' lead, and the visitors held a slim 55-51 cushion at halftime.
Game Notes
Milwaukee, which had 14 more second-chance points, has won four straight as the host in this series ... Ilyasova posted his third double-double in his last four games ... Jack, David Lee, and Carl Landry all recorded double- doubles for the Warriors, who also got 19 points from Klay Thompson ... Jennings dished out seven assists.
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