The Milwaukee Bucks made it four wins out of their last five games with a dominant 118-93 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder Sunday night.
Since Khris Middleton's return, they have been quietly going about their business and making it known that they shouldn't be written off, and that showed with the convincing victory over the Thunder, who were the one seed in the Western Conference before last night's game.
AJ Green was the only Buck to miss last night's game with illness, and the team put in one of their best performances of the season. They led by one at the half, but then a huge 34-17 third quarter in Milwaukee's favor distanced themselves from their opponents as they looked to solidify their grip on the second seed out East.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the frontrunners in the MVP conversation, and the Bucks held him to just 12 points and two assists, his second-lowest-scoring performance of the season. Guard Josh Giddey led the Thunder with 19 points. Jalen Williams had 18, and Chet Holmgren was held to six points on one of 10 shooting, showing the Bucks' defense throughout was magnificent.
The Milwaukee Bucks got a huge win over the Oklahoma City Thunder
As a team, the Bucks' shooting from deep wasn't great. They hit 11 of 34 (32.4 percent) attempts from three but held the Thunder to 10 of 43 (23.3) and just 37.1 shooting from the field. Both teams forced double-figure turnovers, but it was Milwaukee who was making the shots difficult for the Thunder more than forcing a turnover. The Bucks finished with seven guys putting up 10 or more points.
Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard both played 33 minutes. with Middleton, Bobby Poirtis, Brook Lopez and Malik Beasley all playing at least 22 minutes. Late in the game, we saw some of the younger guys get minutes under their belts, along with Thanasis Antetokounmpo and Danilo Gallinari, to provide a veteran presence.
With the round-up out of the way, let's take a look at the many studs and the few harsh duds from the Bucks' emphatic win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.