The Milwaukee Bucks had no real trouble beating the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday night, beating them 130-110. Don’t fear Thunder fans, there were some positives vs the Bucks as well! We’ll break them down here — along with the not so positive.
Luguentz Dort is the best shooter in NBA history
Ok, I’m kidding obviously. Dort had a great showing offensively tonight much like he did against the Rockets during Game 7 in 2020. Dort started the game going 4/4 from three, and finished 4-6 from three with 19 points on a total 7-11 from the field. Luguentz has vastly improved offensively since entering the NBA, and he still has more untapped potential — which to the rest of the NBA should be as terrifying as being chased by Michael Myers, Jason Vorhees, Chucky, and Leatherface all at the same time.
Josh Giddey all around game
If you asked me what I expected a Josh Giddey statline to look like, I would say something close to what Giddey put up tonight. Josh struggled a little from the field going 3-9, but he did finish with nine points, six rebounds, and six assists. I definitely expect the rookie to get a triple double this season if he can stay healthy.
Scary Pokusevski
We knew when the Thunder drafted Poku that development would take time. His performance on Sunday night has to give the fans and Oklahoma City front office cause for concern, however. Pokusevski posted two points on 1-6 from the field, and looked completely lost at times. This is not the time to give up on young Poku though, as he is still just that, very young. But this was in way a positive performance.
Defense
We knew coming into the season the Thunder would struggle on defense at times. Milwaukee showed everyone just how bad it could possibly be / get. The Bucks went an astounding 54% from the field, and 54% from three. That is just brutal. Milwaukee scored 50 of their 130 points in the paint highlighting just how desperate the Thunder are for post length. Hopefully getting Derrick Favors back soon will remedy that if even little.
In closing
The Oklahoma City Thunder are what we thought they were. A young team that would struggle mightily on the defensive end but has potential to be very fun to watch on the offensive end (even though the final numbers say otherwise). The Thunder need to put this loss vs the Bucks behind them as they host the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night at 8 pm EST. A game I assume will be available to watch on the Thunder website.
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