SAN FRANCISCO – Recovering from the letdown of losing a trap game to the undermanned Denver Nuggets, the Warriors had to dig deep 24 hours later.

Laser focus led them to a strong start and a comfortable halftime lead, only to see it fade away in the third quarter. But the Warriors found an extra gear to close the third quarter and stop turning the ball over in the fourth, grinding out a 104-93 win against the Milwaukee Bucks at Chase Center without Steph Curry on Tuesday night.

Jimmy Butler carried a Curry-less Warriors team. Butler nearly had his second triple-double with the Warriors, finishing with 24 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists in 36 minutes. Butler was a perfect 11 of 11 on free throws and scored 16 of his 24 points in the second half.

Scoring only three points, Draymond Green was brilliant guarding Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Bucks superstar scored 20 points, but was 5 of 16 overall from the field. Green had four blocks and two steals, giving him nine blocks and five steals the last two games.

Though the Warriors didn’t have Curry, they did get Brandin Podziemski back after he missed the past five games with a lower back injury. In his return, Podziemski tallied 17 points and seven rebounds, splashing two big-time threes in the final two minutes.

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Steph Out, Podz In

Curry missed his first game in nearly two months, but in return Podziemski was back on the floor for the Warriors. His first shot attempt in two weeks earned a Curry stamp of approval. Podziemski lined up from the left wing, let it fly and gave Golden State three points as part of a strong first stint.

And Podziemski’s second shot attempt also was a successful three, again connecting from the left wing.

Podziemski was a perfect 4 of 4 in the first half, making both 3-point attempts to go with a mid-range jumper and a right-handed runner with his off-hand.

After missing his first three shots of the second half, Podziemski lined up a clutch 3-pointer with a little more than two minutes to go in the fourth quarter. One minute later, he did so again to give the Warriors an 11-point lead.

Draymond’s Defensive Masterclass

With Curry on the bench, the game very well could come down to how the Warriors would contain Antetokounmpo. That, of course, was Green’s main responsibility. The defensive star understood the assignment. Green’s defensive activity from the jump made it evident how locked in he was.

After missing five games to injury, Antetokounmpo had scored at least 20 points in 12 of his last 14 games, and reached 30 points in four of those games. The two-time NBA MVP tried to challenge Green right away and learned the hard way. Green blocked his driving layup attempt on the Bucks’ opening possession, and then did so again two minutes later.

Green in the first four-and-a-half minutes of the game already blocked three shots – twice on Antetokounmpo, and once rotating to swat Taurean Price’s 5-foot jump shot.

In the second quarter, he recognized Antetokounmpo rolling the rim freely and knocked away an alley-oop attempt. Green didn’t commit a single foul in the first half while contesting multiple shots.

Antetokounmpo and Green both subbed into the game for the final 4:24 of the fourth quarter with the Warriors ahead by five points. In that stretch, Antetokounmpo took one shot, missing as he was hounded by Green.

Crisis Averted

Everything the Warriors accomplished in the first half was thrown out the window in the third quarter. They turned the ball over five times through the first two quarters to hold a 14-point halftime lead. They then gave the ball up 10 times in the third quarter alone, resulting in 14 points for the Bucks.

The Warriors allowed four threes in the first half, only to see the Bucks drain six in the third quarter – twice as many as Golden State made. It looked like all the good habits the Warriors created going into halftime were left in the locker room. Then the final 41 seconds of the third quarter happened.

Starting with a pull-up 3-pointer from Hield, the Warriors went on an 8-0 run to close the quarter, which also included Jonathan Kuminga making two free throws and Butler making all three after forcing contact with one second left.

Beginning with a three-point play by Butler, the Warriors kept their momentum to start the fourth quarter, going on a 16-0 run between the end of the third quarter and the first three minutes of the final frame. In the fourth, the Warriors outscored the Bucks 26-17.

This was the kind of gutsy win the Warriors can pridefully look back on going forward.