After a tight first half, the Milwaukee Bucks dominated the Oklahoma City Thunder 70-46 in the second half en route to a 118-93 earn. Giannis Antetokounmpo nearly had a 30-20 game with 30 points and 19 rebounds and Khris Middleton recorded his second career triple-double with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. MVP candidate Shai Gilegous-Alexander was held in check, scoring just 12 points on 5-of-12 shooting. Fellow teammate Josh Giddey had a good night from beyond the arc, going 4-of-6 and scoring nineteen points with nine rebounds and eight assists.
Game summary
The young Thunder came out and took an early lead, with Josh Giddey hitting consecutive three-pointers, forcing Doc Rivers to call a timeout as the Bucks were down by six points. The Bucks defense would turn things around, holding the Thunder scoreless for three minutes and 44 seconds, allowing Milwaukee to take a five-point lead with 1:56 left in the first half. A third-down corner from Isaiah Joe would end Oklahoma City’s drought, but that was all they could muster, with the Bucks entering the second quarter with a lead of two, 24-22.
The Middleton-Giannis connection didn’t miss a beat with the former missing a game, with “Khash” finding Antetokounmpo in the pick-and-roll for an impressive layup. Doc Rivers’ team continued to bring its defensive intensity throughout most of the second quarter, building a nine-point lead thanks to a Brook Lopez three-ball. OKC would then bounce back with a 12-2 run to give itself a one-point lead. Middleton proved vital once again, as he rose up for a mid-range jumper over Chet Holmgren with five seconds left, giving the Bucks a 48-47 halftime lead .
Things remained close early in the third quarter before the Bucks exploded on both ends. Milwaukee outscored Oklahoma City 20-6 in seven minutes of play. The highlight of the run came from Malik Beasley, as he knocked the ball away from Josh Giddey, dove on the floor and saved the ball to Brook Lopez, who then found Giannis for an and-1 layup in transition. The Bucks took a seventeen-point lead, forcing a timeout from OKC coach Mark Daigneault. The Thunder would gain ground after the timeout, but would still find themselves down double digits heading into the final quarter of regulation, 82-64.
It was much of the same in the fourth quarter, as the Bucks continued to increase their lead down the stretch. Khris punctuated his return to the lineup by throwing a lob to Giannis, one of many he threw to his teammate of eleven seasons. At one point, Milwaukee led by as many as 26 and the benches finally emptied with Chris Livingston, MarJon Beauchamp and Thanasis Antetokounmpo getting minutes. The deep reserves took this game to the end as the Bucks won 118-93.
Along with Cleveland’s blowout loss to Miami, this victory gives Milwaukee a three-game advantage in the race for the East’s second seed with eleven games remaining. The Bucks will have Monday off as they prepare to host the Lakers at Fiserv Forum on Tuesday, looking to avenge their loss a few weeks ago.
What have we learned?
A fully healthy Bucks team can beat the best of the best. This game was one of the rare instances where this Bucks team, as currently constructed, was fully healthy (minus AJ Green who was out with a non-Covid-related illness) and it showed. The Bucks’ depth shined as Middleton and Lillard struggled with their shooting for most of the evening. Between Bobby Portis, Pat Connaughton and Jae Crowder, they scored 36 of 44 bench points, including 32 in the first three frames. Chatting with the players after the game, they seemed more excited about being a complete unit than playing against one of the best teams in the Western Conference.
“We were very excited to be at full strength, this is the team we want to have all the guys on and we want to play the right way and play together, and I think we did that ” Middleton said. “Not everyone had a great night, but everyone did their job, they defended well, the guys who got trapped and saw two most of the time got the ball and let the rest of the guys make good plays.”
Three bench things
Bobby Portis
The Bucks big men intimidated the Thunder all night long and Bobby Portis was a big part of it. Portis had fifteen points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists. Even with just two assists, Portis made good reads to Connaughton and Crowder in the second quarter for easy baskets, something Doc Rivers focused on with Bobby.
“It’s simplified things for us, it teaches us how to play,” Crowder said. “Obviously we were trying to play a little bit with Bobby in the post, we have to do a good job of getting his reads. When double teams come, we have to play against the double team and cut correctly and space correctly, so we’ve been working on that every day in practice and we’ll only get better with more reps.
Jae Crowder
Much to the chagrin of our writers Kyle and Riley, Jae Crowder has played well over the last five games, averaging 10 points on 58.8% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc (two makes per match on four attempts). His defense and cutting ability were on full display, as he scored ten points on 4-for-4 shooting (2-for-2 from three), two rebounds, two assists and a steal.
“The second unit was on a tightrope tonight, just trying to change the play on both ends of the floor and trying to bring something to the team,” Crowder said. “I thought we did a great job of stimulating and pushing the lead a little bit, getting stops when we needed them and playing together.”
Pat Connaughton
With AJ Green out, Pat Connaughton got a little more run with a depleted guard rotation and he made the most of it. Connaughton scored eleven points and played solid defense against the Thunder guards. Rivers was very impressed with his cut and how he created open looks for others.
“Pat Connaughton is so important to our team (and) you see it every night,” Rivers said. “He created more points than he scored tonight with his cuts, he just knows when to cut. His ability to read where the dunker is and where to go is simply incredible.
Bonus Dollar Bits
- It was the first time since January 31 that the starting five, Dame, Malik, Khris, Giannis and Brook, played together. This roster has a +15.8 net rating in 36 games and 544 total minutes played together.
- Giannis broke his personal record for most points scored in a season. His previous high was in 2017-18, when he scored 2,014 points. His new record is now 2,023 points, five fewer than Michael Redd’s 2005-2006 season. That would be the sixth best in franchise history. The top five are all held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. His franchise record from 1971-72 may be untouchable at this point, but Giannis has a chance to rank fifth (2,191 from 1973-74).
- The connection between Giannis and Khris Middleton is fun basketball to watch. “Khash” found Giannis repeatedly throughout the game, including this alley-oop in the fourth quarter.
- There was another reason why Doc Rivers and Jae Crowder were happy aside from their win against the Thunder. Earlier today, their (and mine) alma mater Marquette University made it to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since Crowder wore the blue and gold in 2013, defeating Colorado, 81-77.
“I’m very happy for them, both games created adversity for them and they overcame it,” Crowder said. “I’m happy to see these guys move forward and get another week. I texted Shaka [Smart] earlier, and he responded, but I’m happy for him and happy for the guys.
“I spoke with Shaka after the match, [I’m] just really proud. Colorado is good, I think they’re the best offensive team I’ve seen and there were five times tonight where Marquette could have given up because [Colorado] kept scoring,” Rivers said. “Shaka and I were talking about what you see is your team has decided they want to be great.”
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