The Oklahoma City Thunder edged out the Milwaukee Bucks 116-112 in an exciting preseason contest tonight, crushing Milwaukee’s chance at finishing undefeated in the tune-up games. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led OKC with 23 points in 19 minutes, while Branden Carlson added 17 points and some crucial second-half play. Cole Anthony dropped 21 for the Bucks, and Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 16.
Game Recap
The Bucks opened the game with Kevin Porter Jr., Gary Trent Jr., AJ Green, Giannis, and Bobby
Portis. Myles Turner sat out with right calf soreness. The Thunder brought some of their stars out to play too, running with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Cason Wallace, Alex Caruso, Lu Dort, and Isaiah Hartenstein.
Gilgeous-Alexander kicked off the scoring with a catch-and-shoot three on OKC’s first possession, drawing a foul but failing to convert the four-point play. Giannis responded with a smooth middie on Milwaukee’s first trip. The Thunder went six-for-six from the field in the first quarter before finally missing at the 9:10 mark, but inspired play from the Greek Freak kept them from building a big lead early. The reigning champs captured a double-digit lead at the 7:00 stamp, as their signature defensive intensity and connectedness started to ramp up. They forced nine Bucks turnovers in the opening six minutes, and 10 in the first quarter overall. When Milwaukee was actually able to get some shots up, they had a lot of success. Kevin Porter Jr. and Gary Trent Jr. found the bottom of the net on a few tough buckets, cutting the Thunder’s lead to two with 3:25 remaining. A Kyle Kuzma triple put Milwaukee on top two minutes later. The Bucks led 37-33 through one.
Cole Anthony splashed a triple to get the second quarter going, and Ryan Rollins hit one of his own on the next possession. Milwaukee was off to an impressive start shot-making-wise, drilling seven of their first 11 three-point attempts. Milwaukee’s luck from beyond the arc was covering up their ugly turnover issues. Eventually, though, they started to come back to earth, and OKC recaptured the lead at the 7:00 mark of the second period with a Branden Carlson three. A Cason Wallace bomb 30 seconds later capped off a 16-0 run for the Thunder. The Bucks stayed cool as the visitors built a 68-58 lead inside of the three-minute mark. Isaiah Hartenstein joined in on the long-range action late, making the halftime score 73-65. Gilgeous-Alexander finished the half with 23 points on 8/10 shooting, while Porter paced the Bucks with 12.
The Thunder had their B-team in to start the second half, with Ousmane Dieng checking in for his first action and 2025 second-round pick Brooks Barnhizer getting the nod as well. Giannis, however, remained on the floor and made his presence felt. He threw down a fierce reverse slam two minutes in that cut OKC’s lead to three points. KPJ stayed hot and banged a contested corner trey to knot the score at 74 at the 8:30 mark. The game turned into a brick fight for a while after that, with both teams missing easy looks from all over the floor. The Bucks had scored just two points after Porter’s tying triple before Anthony knocked in two threes around the 4:00 tick. Then, Rollins, who has been forming some noticeable chemistry in the backcourt with Anthony, greened a three to give Milwaukee an 85-82 lead. At the end of the third, the Bucks held a 90-87 advantage.
Rollins stayed ablaze to start the fourth, scoring Milwaukee’s first three points by way of a free throw and a steal-and-slam. Anthony dished a slick lob to Jericho Sims for a slam at the 10-minute mark. The backup backcourt for the Bucks had taken over. OKC’s bench guys weren’t backing down, though. Carlson gave his team a three-point lead with another timely triple with 8:40 remaining; the two-way big man was really making an impact. The dynamic pair of Rollins and Anthony sat down halfway through the final frame, but Mark Sears picked up where they left off and delivered a steal/and-one combo to tie the game at 103. The two teams were trading blows in a contested battle. Dieng made some huge plays late for the Thunder, hitting a three to push their lead to five and then rejecting a Sears layup with 30 seconds on the clock. After Dieng’s block sent the ball out of bounds, Pete Nance made a three off an ATO play to make it a two-point game. A collected effort from Chris Youngblood at the charity stripe, followed by a miss from Nance, sealed the clutch win for the Thunder.
Stat That Stood Out
Cole Anthony and Ryan Rollins combined for 34 points on the night. They’ve looked awesome sharing the court on both ends. If they can keep building on their chemistry, they could become an all-league bench tandem.
