8:00 PM EST, ESPN – Line: Thunder -4.5, Over/Under: 211
Giannis “The Greek Freak” Antetokounmpo has been a revelation this season, lading the Bucks in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals and blocks.
A pair of young playoff teams meet tonight at Chesapeake Energy Arena, as the Oklahoma City Thunder host the Milwaukee Bucks, as one All-Star looks to join very select company. With the postseason just about two weeks away, the Bucks (40-37, 5th in Eastern Conference) must possess a good deal of confidence as one of the hotter teams in the East over the past month and change, winners of fourteen of their past eighteen contests. Jason Kidd’s charges have grown up a lot over this final third of the campaign, with the healthy return of sharpshooting swingman Khris Middleton (15.4 PTS 45.9% FG, 41.9% 3FG, 4.2 REB, 3.4 AST, 1.4 STL) providing the team with a much-needed shot in the arm. The fifth-year veteran missed the first fifty games of the season after suffering a hamstring injury that required surgery back in September. With third-year stud Jabari Parker (20.1 PTS, 49.0% FG, 36.5% 3FG, 6.1 REB, 2.8 AST, 1.0 STL) also undergoing surgery to repair a torn ACL in early February, Middleton’s return couldn’t have come at a better time. It’s no surprise that Milwaukee’s fortunes have improved since he came back, going 18-7 in the twenty-five games since he was given the okay from team doctors. With that said, as well as he’s performed since Kidd has eased him back into the Starting Five, he was about the only Buck to struggle in Sunday’s narrow 109-105 loss at home to the Dallas Mavericks. While the hosts shot a stellar 50.6% as a team, Middleton could muster just thirteen points on a sub-par 5-of-15 shooting from the field (33.3%), including 1-of-8 from beyond the arc (12.5%). Giannis Antetokounmpo (23.1 PTS, 52.5% FG, 8.7 REB, 5.4 AST, 1.7 STL, 1.9 BLK) on the other hand, had no such problems, as the third-year phenom barely missed a triple-double, scoring a game-high thirty-one points on an efficient 10-of-18 shooting (55.6%), including 11-of-12 from the free-throw line (91.7%), while totaling fifteen rebounds, nine assists, four steals, and a pair blocks. The issue though, was two-fold; the home side didn’t get much help from their Bench, which was outscored by the Mavs 40-24, and they didn’t play much defense, allowing Dallas to torch them on 52.1% shooting, including 14-of-36 from downtown (38.9%), with Harrison Barnes in particular having his way, matching the Greek Freak’s total of thirty-one points. Sunday’s performance on that particular end of the court was a bit surprising, for the Bucks have been one of the better defensive teams in the league throughout the campaign; Kidd has done a great job of cultivating the young talent on hand, for they have relegated the opposition to 104.2 points (11th Overall) on 46.0% shooting from the field (18th Overall), including 51.3% from inside the three-point arc (24th Overall) and 35.7% beyond it (14th Overall), while ramping up the pressure, forcing 14.8 turnovers (8th Overall), with 8.2 steals (8th Overall) and 5.3 blocks (6th Overall). This is an extremely long team at every position, allowing them to quickly shut down passing lanes, close out on shooters, and get their hands on loose balls, allowing them to get their transition game in motion, which is where they can really be a handful. Milwaukee has improved tremendously on the offensive end of the floor, shooting 47.7% overall (2nd Overall), including 52.0% inside the arc (5th Overall) and 37.1% beyond it (9th Overall), while dishing out a healthy 24.4 assists (5th Overall). When these teams previously met back on January 2nd, the Bucks pulled away late with a 98-94 victory at BMO Harris Bradley Center, with Antetokounmpo leading the way with twenty-six points on 10-of-19 shooting from the field (52.6%), along with ten rebounds, five assists, a steal and a block apiece. However, the side that takes the floor tonight will look considerably different for Kidd and his Staff, as Malcolm Brogdon (10.3 PTS, 45.7% FG, 40.4% 3FG, 2.8 REB, 4.3 AST, 1.1 STL), John Henson (6.8 PTS, 51.0% FG, 5.2 REB, 1.0 AST, 1.4 BLK), and the aforementioned Parker will miss tonight with respective injuries.
With yet another triple-double in Sunday’s loss to Charlotte, Westbrook is on the verge of tying Oscar Robertson’s record for a single season.
Meanwhile, as the Thunder (43-33, 6th in Western Conference) are stuck in the Six/Seven Seed out West, all eyes remain fixated on one Russell Westbrook (31.9 PTS, 42.5% FG, 33.9% 3FG, 10.6 REB, 10.4 AST, 1.7 STL) and his assault on one of the more hallowed records in the NBA History. With one more triple-double, the six-time All-Star Point Guard will tie Hall of Famer (and former Milwaukee Buck) Oscar Robertson for the most triple-doubles in a single season at forty-one, which the Big O established back in the 1961-1962 season, with six games left in the current campaign to average that distinction over the course of the year. Yeah, it’s a pretty damn big deal. Westbrook notched his fortieth (and eleventh in his past twelve outings) in Sunday’s 113-101 loss at home to the Charlotte Hornets, in which his herculean effort (40 PTS, 13 REB, 10 AST, 3 STL) simply wasn’t enough to secure the victory. And that’s been the problem of late for this team; losers of four out of their last seven games, Billy Donovan’s charges are not creating much momentum for themselves entering the Playoffs, as his otherworldly Point Guard’s exploits are being spoiled by the team’s recent form. The issue, as it has been all year, is that there isn’t really much to this team apart from Westbrook, which has become abundantly clear now that former MVP Kevin Durant is living it up with Warriors. Far too often the Thunder look like Westbrook and four other guys standing around watching him shoot, which isn’t nearly enough to vault themselves into contention with the likes of Golden State, San Antonio, and Houston in the always stacked Western Conference. Donovan has toiled all year in search of a complementary lineup to pair with the MVP candidate, but through seventy-six games he appears to be just grabbing at air. Fourth-year Guard Victor Oladipo (16.4 PTS, 44.8% FG, 37.7% 3FG, 4.3 REB, 2.5 AST, 1.2 STL) was acquired via trade in the Offseason to become the Robin to Westbrook’s Batman, and while he’s ben serviceable, he’s a far cry from what Oklahoma City lost in the form of Durant. Steven Adams (11.5 PTS, 57.6% FG, 7.6 REB, 1.1 AST, 1.1 STL, 1.0 BLK) and Enes Kanter (14.4 PTS, 55.2% FG, 6.8 REB, 1.0 AST) continue to be opposite halves of the same coin at Center, while the midseason trade for ex-Bulls Taj Gibson (8.6 PST, 50.8% FG, 4.4 REB) and Doug McDermott (6.1 PTS, 45.5% FG, 37.2% 3FG, 1.9 REB) have done little to energize the Bench since their arrival, let alone occupy a spot in the Staring Five. That was the problem against the Hornets, for apart from Westbrook, the rest of the Thunder accounted for sixty-one points on 47.2% shooting from the field, with Oladipo scoring nineteen points, with the reserve unit adding just twenty-four points. The hosts were extremely careless with the basketball, committing twenty-four turnovers in comparison to nineteen assists, and couldn’t help but foul the visitors at virtually every turn; Charlotte knocked down a whopping 28-of-32 free-throws (87.5), seventeen more than Oklahoma City. So much for home court advantage…