Bucks Whack Thunder
The Milwaukee Bucks didn't just snap the Thunder's nine-game win streak on Friday. They destroyed it. 24 hours after overcoming a 19 point deficit, the Thunder suffered their worst loss in franchise history as the Bucks smacked Oklahoma City 133-86.
It was going to be a tall order, to say the least on Friday night. Not only did the Thunder just grind out a win against the Kings, but, as Billy Donovan said on Thursday, the Thunder were not going to change their rest schedule just because the trade deadline had come and gone.
As he has done all season, Danilo Gallinari was setting out on the second of back to back (the official reason was left ankle soreness); usually, Darius Bazley would start, but since he is recovering from right knee bone bruise, Hamidou Diallo got the call. It's fair to ask why the Thunder chose to go this direction with Bazley being unable to play, but we'll give Diallo the benefit of the doubt after providing the Oklahoma City a spark vs. the Kings.
It's was clear that Diallo was going to have a tough night early in the game as he picked up his third foul midway through the first quarter. To blame this disaster squarely on Diallo is not only unfair, but it's also not taking into account the other four guys on the floor with him.
This beatdown was a total team effort; the Thunder were outrebounded 66-36, part of that was Donovan's decision to go small and limit Nerlens Noel's first-half minutes to 4:01. Noel wasn't killing it on the boards, but, Mike Muscala had none. Plus, there was just no answer for Giannis Antetokounmpo. In the first half, Giannis had 28 points and 10 rebounds, his night was done after playing 10 minutes in the third quarter.
Up Next:
The Thunder will get three days off before hosting the Clippers on Tuesday at the Peake game time is 7 pm on Fox Sports Oklahoma.
Worth Noting:
Antetokounmpo set a single-season record with his ninth game of 30 plus points in under 30 minutes.
13 different Thunder players saw action in tonight's game.
The 47 point loss is the worst in Thunder history
Tell Us What you Think:
Despite it being the second of back to back, should the Thunder have played Gallinari?
