Thunder 93, Bucks 110: The Day After Report
- The Thunder lost ugly to the backup Bucks at home, getting shot to smithereens by Bobby Portis, AJ Green, and the one and only Ousmane Dieng. With Giannis cheering in street clothes, Milwaukee’s ragtag roster rained threes (17-42) on Oklahoma City, who were missing Ajay Mitchell and three starters (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Isaiah Hartenstein).
- OKC kept up and hung around with so-so volume from deep (15-45), but were atrocious in the paint (42.4%) and lost the turnover battle. The game got away from the Thunder when Milwaukee built their lead into the double digits at the half, and kept it out of reach throughout the third and fourth quarters.
- Chet Holmgren (16 pts, 13 rbs, 4 ast, 2 blk) was cold from three (0-4) but held the frontcourt together with Isaiah Hartenstein out.
- I'm with John on Chet's development: I want to see him stretched more as a scorer, especially with Shai out. He's not as polished or as comfortable as he might be as a creator, but he has the length and touch to turn shaky drives into points anyway.
- Without OKC’s best three playmakers in the lineup, Isaiah Joe, Cason Wallace, Aaron Wiggins, and Jared McCain had some success moving the ball around the perimeter and getting shots. They went five-out a lot, and got up 8 more threes than they average. But only Joe (17 points, 4-9 from three) really broke through enough to match Milwaukee’s output.
- "What if we just feed Isaiah Joe a Klay Thompson shot diet?" I want answers to this question, regardless of the injury context around OKC's first Philly sharpshooting cast-off.
- Joe had a scary non-contact spill in the first quarter. He eventually got up to gingerly finish the play, and finished the game. Phew.
- Very cool moment: Loud City gave Nikola Topic a standing ovation when he checked in. His recovery dates back nearly two years, when he tore his ACL while on the doorstep of getting drafted into the NBA.
- But Topic wasn't there to sing kumbaya. He got an impressed “Let’s go” out of Brent Barry after getting a quick assist, and made his first career shot. It was all uphill from there for Topic (3 turnovers and 2 missed shots), but he played with feel and aggression, putting more sauce on some of his passes than his teammates expected. I’m hyped for his development.
- Ousmane Dieng: 19 points, 11 boards, 6 assists, 5 stocks. Ous kept up his strong play for Milwaukee after being traded away by OKC before the deadline
- I'm still quite confident the Thunder sold high on Dieng. Only time will tell.
- I'm a sucker for the Prime broadcast, and I will hear no Bones slander. While they've been a glowing endorser of the league all season, the Prime crew dedicated a full pregame segment with an Inside the NBA-like brow beating of today's All-Stars from the retired players behind the desk. The sanctimony is deserved, and it’s less obnoxious when balanced by appreciation of the sport from the same voices. Remember that Charles Barkley was once a refreshing, honest critic. Dirk and Blake aren't old timers yet, and it helps that they are still watching the games they're talking about.
One Key Takeaway: All-Star Rest
Jared McCain was just named to the celebrity 3-point shootout (lol) and Holmgren will play in the main event. As much as I hope the pressure on the All-Stars to, you know, try works this year, I must admit I’m terrified Chet could get hurt while reviving the competitive spirit alongside established (Wemby) and fellow first-timers (looking at you, Jalen Johnson and Jalen Duran) shaming the old heads and Euros into bending their knees or sprinting during a nationally televised basketball game. It feels silly to root for controlled aggression from a psycho competitor like Chet, but a boy can dream.
Oklahoma City needs to get healthy. Sure, they also need JDub to shoot better and everyone to rebound better and to lock down home court advantage. But to defend the title, priority A & B & C & D & E is for Shai, JDub, Chet, IHart, and Ajay to play in the postseason. Hopefully they all get right for good after the All-Star break.
