Thunder – Bucks 115-142: Antetokunbo breaks up Pokushevsky’s Oklahoma

A…regular five and some Thunder Rollers (Tai Jerome, Josh Giddy, Lugenge Dort, Kenritz Williams, Mike Mascala, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Derrick Favors) were left out and lost to Oklahoma City. They clinched the win with 142-115 putting 20/40 trebles, achieved the five consecutive positives and continue to aim for the best possible finish in the Eastern Region on the back of playoffs and returns from George Hill, Pat Conaton, Brooke Lopez who continue their recovery.

At 41-25 the champions (23-12 at home and 18-13 away), with Giannis Antetokounbo bulldozing whoever was in front of him (39 points, 9/15 two points, 4/4 three points , 9/13 shots, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 12 fouls won in just 27:46) and on his way to MVP, the honors for the top defenseman and top scorer of the regular season. Milwaukee had five more doubles, with Chris Middleton still hot after the Phoenix Suns’ 44, Bobby Portis hit another double-double and Javon Carter-Serge Ibaka provided valuable assists on his rolls, the sixth and seventh players on the night, in the Grayson Allen it did not play.

At 20-45 The Thunder (9-24 home and 11-21 away), with Sai Gilzius-Alexander making fun (33 points, 8/15 two points, 3/3 three points, 8/12 shots, 8 rebounds, 14 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 5 errors in 35:09) and Alexei Pokusevski, who lost his place in the top 5 after three games in a row to have a very good performance in the role of the sixth player. The 20-year-old Serb played confidently, had plenty of good moments, scoring 13 points from 2/4 two points, 2/6 three points and 3/4 shots, filling his stats with seven rebounds and four assists, all while shooting clean at 27 : 50 left on the floor.

Next game for the Bucks tomorrow night, early Thursday morning at 3:00 a.m. with the Hawks in Atlanta.

The race

Full attack from both teams early on, going 11-11 in the third minute was the result of 5/6 threes they had together. The Bucks put up a small lead (23-19) with Antetokunbo’s first basket, a dynamic nail in the sixth minute, before Giannis relatively pressured a three-pointer from up front to make it 21-26, with Gilzius-Alexander filling the stat but even the Carter, Nuora, Mamukelasvili, Ibaka formation easily held Milwaukee up a 34-39 lead through the season in which the champions displayed pluralism over the one-man show of the home star who had arrived. the 13 points.

With Antetokunbo hitting his second three-pointer of the night early in the second half, the Bucks kept the Thunder at a time when the Oklahoma team had poor offense selection. Giannis also scored a peat in 15′ for 41-52, Portis and Holiday continued with peripheral shots for 46-58 and Greek Freak closed the first part with the third three points in an equal number of executions for 65-76. Milwaukee were in control, without pushing, without pushing, they kept the 11/19 three-pointer, but also wanted a little more effort in defense to keep the hosts’ enthusiasm contained.

It was a given that a good streak would clear the game for the champions. The Bucks went into the second half at a partial 9-2 in two minutes, shooting the difference to 18 (85-67) and looking very determined to start the fourth third, but the hosts made two crucial shots, paring down 12 (78-90) and kept the interest alive along with their hopes of the fight to the end. Ibaka offered significant assists in defense and offense late in the third period at 86-105 and the Stags were never really bothered by their opponents.

Antetokunbo hit 4/4 three-pointers for 96-115 in 38′, reaching 39 points eight minutes from the final, but magically the Thunder held on. They couldn’t stand to win the game, but they could stand to force Budenholzer to keep his key players grounded, but not for long. Middleton shot in a row, the difference opened up in seconds and 110-132 midway through the fourth third couldn’t be brought down by the Thunder, who put on a good, really good performance but are still a long way from the Bucks’ level.

THE TWELVE MINUTES: 34-39, 65-76, 93-105, 115-142

OKLACHOMA CITY THUNTER (Dignolt): Wiggins 8 (2), Beasley 9 (1), Robbie 12 (1), Man 11 (1), Gilzius-Alexander 33 (8/15 two points, 3/3 three points, 8/12 shots, 8 rebounds, 14 assists, 3 steals, 5 errors), Waters 16 (4), Pokusevski 13 (2/4 two points, 2/6 three points, 3/4 shots, 7 rebounds, 4 assists), Kreitsi 6 (1 ), Shar 3 (1), Malenton 4

MILGUOKI BUKS (Budenholzer): Middleton 25 (5/10 two points, 4/7 three points, 3/3 shots, 2 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 error), Giannis Antetokounbo 39 (9/15 two points, 4/4 three points, 9/13 shots, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 1 error in 27:46), Portis 18 (2 3-pointers, 14 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals), Nuora 11 (1 3-pointer , 7 rebounds, 3 assists), Holiday 13 (1 3-pointer, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals), Carter 12 (4 3-pointers, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals), Ibaka 14 (4/6 2-pointers, 2/3 3-pointers, 7 rebounds), Mamukelashvili 8 (2), Babri, Matthews, Wigington, Thanasis Antetokunbo 2

Oklahoma City Thunder team stats: 26/45 two points, 16/39 three points, 15/21 shots, 42 rebounds, 26 assists, 6 steals, 6 blocks, 15 errors, 20 fouls

Milwaukee Bucks team stats: 33/60 two points, 20/40 three points, 16/20 shots, 57 rebounds, 35 assists, 10 steals, 5 blocks, 13 errors