Bucks vs. Thunder: Stumbling at home

In a sluggish offensive showing, the Milwaukee Bucks stumbled at home to the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder, 121-105. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led all scorers with 31 points while Giannis Antetokounmpo concluded his showing with a 21/12/10 triple-double.

Read our full summary of the game here and catch a six-minute audio recap on the Bucks+ podcast Bucks In Six Minutes below.

What Did We Learn?

The Bucks simply lacked the physicality in this one. Immediately to begin his presser, that’s how Doc Rivers summed up the loss. He mentioned how up and down OKC’s positions, they out-muscled the Bucks in every manner. He said that Giannis was the only real one who brought it for them in this one. The Thunder are absolutely a team where if you give up an inch, they’ll make you suffer — and that’s exactly what happened in this one for the Bucks.

Three Observations

Isaiah Hartenstein was a beast.

I mentioned in my Rapid Recap how he seemed to tilt things in OKC’s favor to begin the second quarter. To start that period, he didn’t have a single rebound tallied. However, over the course of the quarter, he began to rack them up. By the time he subbed out of this one for good, he had posted a dominant double-double consisting of 24 points and ten rebounds. His efficiency was masterful, going 11/15 from the floor. He posed trouble for the Bucks all night long.

KPJ and GTJ were some bright spots off the bench.

On a night where most of the offense was dormant, these two stepped up with their contributions. Each of them tallied double-digits in this one. KPJ tallied 11 points while GTJ notched 12 of his own. We all know how impactful KPJ has been. He continues to show how he’s able to provide a feisty spark when Milwaukee needs it. Meanwhile, GTJ’s ability to splash home threes in timely instances continues to be appreciated. These two will be relied on heavily in the coming weeks as the playoffs near.

It was the story of two Isaiahs.

Hartenstein wasn’t the only one that was effective for the Thunder. Isaiah Joe made his presence felt off the OKC pine, signaling 19 points on 6/12 shooting. He’d finish with five threes on the night (5/9 overall in that department) and some of them proved to be back-breakers for the Bucks. The ways in which the Thunder can carve out offensive attacks is one of the reasons why they’re sitting up at the top of the West and in this one, Joe proved that point.

Bonus Bucks Bits

Jericho Sims has a right thumb sprain. When talking about it pregame, Doc Rivers mentioned how it was a pretty good injury. He went on to say how surgery is a consideration as well. Despite that, Sims never appeared on the injury report and actually registered 12 minutes of action. This will surely be something to monitor as the West Coast road trip comes into focus.
I still think the Thunder need a rebrand. It’s one of the coolest names in the league but awful branding, IMO.
It was a rough showing on the offensive side of the ball from Kyle Kuzma. He was never able to enter a rhythm, as he ended up going just 4/11 from the floor for ten points. As the playoffs grow closer and closer, Milwaukee continues to yearn for that reliable third option. Right now, Kuz isn’t quite fitting that mold.
Damian Lillard was aggressive in getting to the free throw line. He earned 11 FTA and knocked down all of them.
The Bucks had 41 points at halftime in this one. That marked their lowest score at halftime in a game this season.

Up Next

The Bucks are now off until tomorrow, which is when they’ll head to San Francisco to battle the Golden State Warriors for the start of their West Coast road trip. Tip-off is slated for 9 p.m. CDT and can be seen on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin or streamed on our Playback and YouTube channels.

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