In the SEGABABA at home at Fiserv Forum, the Milwaukee Bucks took a tumble against one of the NBA’s premier teams in the Oklahoma City Thunder, 121-105. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander fueled Oklahoma City with a game-high 31 points while Giannis Antetokounmpo filled out another triple-double with a 21/12/10 performance.
Both teams were pretty even to open this one up. Isaiah Hartenstein and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander each strung together six points apiece to lead Oklahoma City. On Milwaukee’s side, Damian Lillard’s seven points led all scorers through the first frame. His 3-pointer a handful of seconds before the horn sounded also swung the lead Milwaukee’s way going into the second at 26-24.
The Thunder leveraged Hartenstein’s scoring ability early on in the second, as the big man scratched the surface of the double-figure mark with relative ease in that period. That stretch is what began to tilt the momentum the way of the Thunder. Milwaukee’s offensive rating read just 87.9 at halftime, which coincided with Oklahoma City capitalizing with a double-digit advantage. At intermission, the Thunder led 53-41. The kicker? The Bucks being just 4-of-17 from 3-point land and scoreless in the last 4:42 of the half.
Things would fail to shift to a northerly trend for Milwaukee in the third. Instead, the Thunder grew their double-digit lead, continuing to frustrate the Bucks. Offense continued to stall for Milwaukee, preventing any real way of them fitting their foot through the door. SGA began to get things rolling on the offensive side of the ball, leading all scorers with 24 points at the end of three. It provided OKC with a very comfortable 92-74 lead heading into the final stanza.
There was simply no path for the Bucks to get back into this one. Their offense was simply too stagnant and OKC dictated the control of the game. Milwaukee did make it a 15-point deficit with 3:38 left, but before long, the white flag was waved by Doc Rivers. The Thunder eventually blew the candle out on a 121-105 victory.
Stat That Stood Out
The portion of the game where Isaiah Hartenstein got going seemed to be where this one got away for the Bucks. To begin the second quarter, he didn’t have a single rebound. However, he then began to accumulate them, along with points. He’s a master at the midrange shot straight-on with the rim and he exploited Milwaukee numerous times with that tonight. His double-double stat line of 24 points and 12 boards was monumental in the victory for the Thunder.
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