Coming off another big victory, the Oklahoma City Thunder wrap up their road trip with a Wednesday night battle against the Bucks in Milwaukee.
The Thunder matched up with the Cavaliers on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and dominated 136-104, bouncing back from a two-point loss in Miami that snapped a five-game winning streak.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way once again with 30 points on 12-for-20 shooting. Chet Holmgren added 28 along with eight rebounds, and Ajay Mitchell dished nine assists off the bench.
“Mitchell did a really good job of finding (Holmgren) on pick and pops, it was a loud offensive night for Holmgren,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “What he does every night is he impacts the final score with his overall floor game, defense, the space he creates for us.”
The reigning league MVP, Gilgeous-Alexander leads the Thunder with 31.8 points and 6.2 assists per game. Holmgren is averaging 8.4 boards and two blocks in addition to 18 points.
Milwaukee comes in off a much-needed 112-110 victory over the Hawks in Atlanta on MLK Jr. Day. The Bucks lost a 23-point advantage in the second half but held on for a key win over a team just in front of them in the Eastern Conference standings, snapping a three-game losing streak.
The Bucks got the balanced scoring they needed with Giannis Antetokounmpo still on a minutes restriction, though the superstar still led with 21 points while five others scored in double figures. Bobby Portis added 19 off the bench and AJ Green poured in six 3-pointers.
“We can’t put ourselves in a position like that. In the third quarter we executed well, found a lot of open shots but at the end of the day, we have to get stops,” Antetokounmpo said. “Overall, there were a lot of good moments, lot of people did good things to win the game today.”
Antetokounmpo’s numbers have taken a slight dip given his restriction following his return from a calf strain, though he is still leading the Bucks with 28.5 points and 9.8 rebounds along with 5.5 assists per game. Kevin Porter Jr. is adding 16.8 points, 7.4 assists and 2.1 steals per game in just 23 games.
One change on Monday for the Bucks included Porter coming off the bench in favor of Kyle Kuzma, something he had not done all season to that point.
“Just size. We thought putting size in the lineup would be great. And when you do that, you have to separate the guards (Porter and starting guard Ryan Rollins),” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “I thought it really went well for us.”
On the injury front, the Thunder will be limited in some capacity as both Alex Caruso (groin) and Jaylin Williams (left glute contusion) left Monday’s game. Caruso is listed as out vs. Milwaukee while Williams is questionable.
Meanwhile, Jalen Williams (hamstring) is out and will be re-evaluated in two weeks. Center Isaiah Hartenstein (calf) is also still listed as out.
The Thunder swept the regular-season series against Milwaukee in dominating fashion a season ago and have won three straight over the Bucks by at least 18 points.
However, those numbers do not include the unofficial NBA Cup championship game in last season’s in-season tournament, which the Bucks controlled 97-81 in Las Vegas.
–Field Level Media
