Milwaukee Bucks: 3 takeaways from 118-112 loss to Oklahoma City Thunder

Battling against a wall

It’s to the Bucks’ great credit that they found a way to drag themselves into this game and score some points in the second half, as they were never at their best and they were trying to outdo a ferocious opposing defense.

For large spells, this game was most reminiscent of the Bucks’ prior loss to the Indiana Pacers, the other team that rounds out the league’s top-three defenses, earlier this season.

On both occasions, the opponent’s strategy was to deny Antetokounmpo any easy looks at the rim, and they had the personnel to execute that strategy. That fact was highlighted in this game as Giannis was blocked for a career single-game high of seven times.

There’s no shame or surprise in struggling against the best defensive teams in the NBA, but it likely suggests that Milwaukee’s offense is not yet as versatile as their defense is proving to be.

Saying that, there’s no doubt its potency would have been helped by any kind of meaningful contribution from the bench, but for the second straight game Milwaukee’s second unit was, for the most part, a no-show. That can be excused somewhat when it comes to young players such as Sterling Brown and D.J. Wilson, but the Bucks need veterans such as George Hill and Ersan Ilyasova to step up in these tough games.