Milwaukee vs. Oklahoma City Game Review & 3 Takeaways from Bucks Beating Thunder

On December 19, 2024By Littum

The Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder, 97-81, to win the NBA Cup in a game that very few neutral observers saw coming. The story of the night was Giannis Antetokounmpo, who controlled the game from start to finish, with 26 points, 19 rebounds, 10 assists and three blocks. Damian Lillard was also very solid while attempting just 12 shots, finishing with 23 points, four assists and a game-high +15 in 35 minutes of action. For OKC, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander simply couldn’t get anything going, finishing the night with 21 points on 8/24 shooting and a team-worst -17. Read our full recap of the game here, and get a six-minute audio recap on the Bucks+ podcast Pants in six minutes under.

What did we learn?

Interestingly, OKC chose not to let Isaiah Hartenstein guard Giannis. I touched on GA’s improved patience when teams try to protect him with wings after the recent Boston game. For the most part, his decision making was pretty good in it, but there were still a few possessions where he didn’t quite think it through. This was perhaps the most complex game I’ve seen him play. OKC just kept putting wings on Antetokounmpo and loading up around him—stunts, late doubles, paint switches, quasi-zones—and he made the right decision almost every time. The guy just took what the defense gave him and didn’t force anything. He knew his advantage — and the entire team’s advantage, frankly — was his size, and that OKC would give up something because of that size. Giannis just had to be patient and wait for opportunities to arise.

And then there was Giannis’ defense. Our Morgan Ross and I noticed on the Playback stream that even though Giannis looked physically exhausted about two-thirds of the way through the third quarter, the guy just kept sliding his feet, grabbing rebounds and changing shots at the rim. Truly just a legendary performance from Antetokounmpo on so many levels. Look at this block after playing the entire quarter: gets a hand to deny the shot, turns his hips and slides, blocks the shot without fouling, and knocks it off Caruso. What?

Three things

Andre Jackson Jr. may have made himself some money last night.

This game was always supposed to be the ultimate test for Andre. For all his athleticism and defensive talent, we know that Jackson can sometimes lack discipline on the defensive end (although he has been very improved this season). Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the most shifty and smartest players in the league. And yes, he has been known to be ugly from time to time. All the signs were there for Andre to be played off the floor under the bright lights and learn a lesson. See, Andre stepped up in a big way and the opposite happened. AJax shot 1/6 and 0/4 from deep while being one of the most important players on the floor, a +12 in his 25 minutes. He just pursued Shai without defiling. All. Night. Long. It was beautiful. SGA couldn’t get anything going and was clearly tiring of Andre’s relentless pressure and ability to move his feet. Others would have played more if the fourth quarter unit wasn’t killing it as much as they were. This was the type of performance that gives Doc and the coaching staff the confidence to give him 25-30 minutes in a playoff game.

I’ve seen this 10 times now and I can’t stress enough how abnormal it is for Andre to be able to do it all game long. Watch how quickly he pushes the outside of his feet as the first step with each SGA change of direction. Work this kid, man pic.twitter.com/eWbg7Rzxyv

— Jack Trehearne (@JackTrehearne) 18 December 2024

It wasn’t just luck that OKC missed a bunch of threes.

This was an interesting game because OKC’s defense stood up. They own the top defensive rating in the NBA, allowing 103.1 points per game. contest, and the Bucks scored 97. It was their offense that sputtered. As mentioned in the quick recap, the Thunder shot terribly from three. And yes, a decent chunk of it is due to an off-shooting night. But the Bucks 1) made them shoot tough shots and 2) helped the right guys, I thought. Shai went 2/9 and started resorting to pull-up threes at speed due to Andre’s presence. Alex Caruso shot two; he is at 26% this season. Kenrich Williams and Ajay Mitchell shot a combined six threes. Both players, like AJax, shoot around 40%, but at fairly low volume, making them untested shooters. Lue Dort, although he is Shooting well this season with good volume isn’t what you’d call a knockdown shooter; he went 0/4. Even Isaiah Joe’s attempts were mostly well contested and many of them were taken off the dribble; he shot 1/6. So yes, it was somewhat of an outlier shootout, but that shouldn’t negate the Bucks’ defensive game plan and effort.

The Others reappeared in Middleton’s absence.

Although Bobby was not as impactful, the quartet of Brook Lopez, Taurean Prince, Gary Trent Jr. and AJ Green 11/22 on threes. You’re never going to completely replace Khris Middleton’s play and shooting, but I thought those guys, especially AJ Green, did a good job of shooting when they were open and making the next play when Giannis or Dame got the Thunder – the defense into rotation. Add in Lillard’s 23 points and it was enough to pull it off.

Bonus Bucks Bits

Giannis was unanimously voted NBA Cup MVP.
Taurean Prince and Darvin Ham still have never lost an NBA Cup game.
Pat Connaughton was dusted off last night. Fired up his trusty DHO a few times. Nice.
Chet Holmgren would have been very valuable to OKC in this game to combat the twin towers of Giannis and Brook in the paint. Alas.
Ryan Rollins got no minutes again, even in garbage time. That shoulder surgery might be coming soon.

The Bucks resume regular season play against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. CST. Watch the game on NBA TV and FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin.