A few teams at the top of their respective conferences face each other for the first time as the Milwaukee Bucks welcome to visit Oklahoma City Thunder Sunday night.
Milwaukee (45-25) last played Thursday when it held off a Brooklyn Nets comeback and won 115-108.
Damian Lillard led the way with 30 points and 12 assists, while Giannis Antetokounmpo returned to action and scored 21 points with nine rebounds. Antetokounmpo missed Wednesday night’s game in Boston with a hamstring injury.
“We came out flat (in the third), we didn’t play with any rhythm. The first half, the ball was jumping, it was beautiful,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “That’s not how we’re going to win in the long run, we had to play ourselves and I thought we did that.”
Rivers added that Lillard played a pivotal role with his competitiveness and leadership.
“He’s a very competitive guy, we saw that tonight,” he said. “He has the ball in his hands more. The more he has it, the more confidence he has to lead the team.”
The Thunder (49-20) occupies sole first place in a very tight Western Conference after its 123-103 victory against the Raptors on Friday night in Toronto.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 23 points and eight assists. Jalen Williams added 20 while Chet Holmgren had 18 and 10 rebounds.
“It wasn’t our best effort in 48 minutes, but when we had to respond, we drew on the right elements, which was defense, physicality and effort,” said the Thunder coach Mark Daigneault.
“I thought the group starting the second quarter really stepped up the game physically on the defensive end.”
Gilgeous-Alexander leads the Thunder with 30.8 points, 6.4 assists and 2.1 steals per game. Holmgren leads the bottom with eight boards and 2.4 blocks per contest.
Milwaukee is led by Antetokounmpo with 30.7 points, 11.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game. Lillard delivers just over seven assists while Lopez makes 2.5 shots per game.
On the injury front, Khris Middleton missed Thursday’s game as the Bucks manage his return from an ankle injury. It has not yet been announced whether he will play Sunday night. The Thunder’s injury report is clear.
On paper, this matchup seems to offer a lot of offense. The Thunder are averaging 120.7 points per game, just 0.1 ahead of the NBA’s third-place Bucks on Saturday.
Oklahoma City also leads the NBA in 3-point percentage (39.2%) and is second in making percentage (50%).
However, the Thunder are more impressive on the defensive end, leading the NBA in blocks per game (6.7) while also ranking fifth in defensive rating (111.2).
These teams haven’t seen each other in some time, with both ends of the annual two-game series a season ago taking place in November 2022.
Milwaukee has won five straight games in the series, the last of which was a double-overtime thriller, 136-132. The all-time series is close, with Milwaukee leading 76-73.
–Field level media
Copyright 2024 STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and the Associated Press is strictly prohibited.
