Sizing up Cormac Ryan, Bennett Stirtz's behind-the-back dribble move was enough to create space. Feeling spicy, he went with the stepback outside jumper. Swish. Sitting out the first half, the 23-year-old made up for lost time with a flamethrowing second half that resembled prime Klay Thompson.
The Oklahoma City Thunder dropped another one with a 128-126 preseason loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. But the first half made the second-half meltdown an afterthought.
Stirtz finished with 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting, five rebounds and two assists. He shot 4-of-7 from 3 and went 4-of-6 on free throws. He also had one steal.
If you tuned out the second half because the Thunder starters sat out, that's your loss. Do yourself a favor and watch Stirtz's minutes.
He was on another plane of unconsciousness. Once he saw a few outside jumpers go in, he hunted his shot. By the end of the game, he was OKC's top-scoring option. Similar to his collegiate years.
Obviously, Stirtz scored all of his points in the second half. I know Aday Mara will grab all of the headlines, but he's also been a huge plus from the jump. Tip your cap to Sam Presti and the rest of the OKC front office. For the first time in a couple of draft cycles, it feels like they've found some day-one contributors. Something this team desperately needs following their recast of characters.
Funny to think that just a day ago, folks were worried about Stirtz's health. He rolled his ankle pretty nastily. No problem. The Thunder are learning firsthand how blue-collar his workstyle is. Knowing he needs to take advantage of this playing time right now to get more when these games start to actually matter, he's battling through ailments. That says a lot about his character in itself.
"He's incredibly mature and professional. Well beyond his years. He's very serious. He really thinks the game, understands the game and so he's got a presence to him because of that," Mark Daigneault said about Stirtz. "He's an adult. So that's going to serve him well. Professionalism is kinda an underrated quality that you need to have to be a good professional basketball player and he's got it. He's walking in the door with it."
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Bennett Stirtz has sizzling 2nd half in OKC's preseason loss to Bucks
