The Milwaukee Bucks will have to find their rhythm without Jrue Holiday, and quickly, as they fell for the third game in a row against the Oklahoma City Thunder, 109-114.
Milwaukee opened the game with an even first period against the Thunder, tied at 24, but the second quarter they took an absolute tumble. With just 17 points scored in those 12 minutes, the Bucks entered halftime down by double digits. In the third, they re-asserted themselves and made up the entire deficit with a 40-point barrage, as each team went into the fourth with 81. The Thunder opened up a sizable fourth quarter lead for a spell, but Milwaukee kept it close down the stretch, although they ultimately failed to hit key shots down the stretch as OKC nailed free throws and a pivotal deep triple.
Bobby Portis was a massive boost off the bench, even playing more minutes than Brook Lopez overall, but even that and a triple-double from Giannis Antetokounmpo wasn’t enough to make up for a lackluster offensive performance overall. Milwaukee will head home looking to get right on an eight game home stand.
Stat That Stood Out
If you had told me before the game that OKC would outscore Milwaukee 50-40 in the paint, I would’ve been relatively flabbergasted. Not that OKC can’t score down there, they average nearly as much as Milwaukee in the paint per game, but they also logged 38% of their shots down there in this one. Even if they only hit 52%, a poor mark overall and solid job by the Bucks D, the fact they were able to penetrate that area so frequently has to be disappointing. As a second stat, the Bucks took 23% of their shots from long midrange, per Cleaning The Glass, versus their season average of 11%.
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