The OKC Thunder traveled to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to take on the reigning champion Bucks. The Thunder did so without their head coach, Mark Daigneault who is back in Oklahoma City and missing this three-game road swing as he and his wife, Ashley, are expecting a child any day now. In his place, Dave Bliss paced the sidelines for the Oklahoma City Thunder who on the front end of a back to back took on one of the best teams and players in the league.
The OKC Thunder never led in this contest, a complete 180 from their Wednesday Night game against the Rockets which the Thunder controlled the tilt for 48-minutes. Tonight, the Bucks saw their lead swell to as many as 20 points, but the Oklahoma City Thunder had many chances to take the lead late in the fourth quarter.
OKC earned a tie in the battle on the glass and the turnover battle while holding the Bucks to 37-percent from the floor, 29-percent from three, winning the second chance point category and showing up in the paint for 32 points.
OKC Thunder fall to the Bucks on Friday Night
It is incredibly hard in the modern area for neither team to crack 100 points, which goes to show just how awful each offense was today. Defensively, Darius Bazley put on a show swatting away Giannis three times.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continued to struggle turning in another inefficient night, a trend OKC Thunder fans are not used to seeing from SGA. The max contract point guard put up 25-percent from the floor, and 16 percent from three chasing in just two of his 12 triple attempts.
While it still is not a cause for concern among Thunder fans, eventually the Kentucky Product has to break this cold streak. The Oklahoma City Thunder star turned in 17-points, six rebounds, and a trio of assists.
Josh Giddey was able to find success tonight as the rookie made half his shot attempts pouring in fourteen points, hauling down 12 rebounds, dishing out four assists, and only committing two turnovers in over 30 minutes of action.
Lu Dort’s 20 plus point-scoring streak came to an end on Friday night as he only puts up ten points on 13 shots, with six rebounds. Despite his career year offensively, the OKC Thunder guard struggled against a tough Bucks defense.
Dave Bliss will take the OKC Thunder back into battle tomorrow as the team continues their road trip going to Boston to take on the Celtics who are fresh off throttling the L.A. Lakers on Friday Night.