Oklahoma City Thunder run riot on the Milwaukee Bucks for a 109-89 win - NBA Recap
On Monday night, the visiting Western Conference powerhouse, Oklahoma City Thunder routed the Milwaukee Bucks 109-89 at the Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI.
Milwaukee, who are chasing the final spot for the playoffs in the Eastern Conference fell 1 and ½ games behind the Philadelphia 76ers and the New York Knicks after this loss. Oklahoma on the other hand, continues to excel in order
to be a stronger contender for the NBA Championship.
Russell Westbrook had a game high of 26 points which included 3 triples. Kevin Durant scored 19 points; Thabo Sefolosha added 14 points and Serge Ibaka contributed 13 points. While the strongest contender for NBA`s Sixth Man of
the Year Award, James Harden came off the bench and scored 16 points.
Ersan Ilyasova led Bucks by scoring 18 points; Drew Gooden added 14 points while Brandon Jennings was the only other player scoring in double figures with 13 points.
Oklahoma City troubled their hosts from the start with their immense pressure on defense. Thunder had 9 blocked shots on the night. Ibaka led in that department by getting 5 blocks in the game, with four of them coming in the first
quarter. Thunder also had 10 steals on the night with Sefolosha getting 7 of them. This helped the Thunder in getting 20 fast break points as compared to their opponents’ 6.
OKC were also very dominant on the boards as they finished the game with 44 rebounds, 13 of them coming on the offensive end of the court.
Thunder looked to stomp their authority on this one early as they opened up a 10 point advantage early in the opening period. They further went on to dominate the rest of the quarter and with Ibaka`s impressive effort on D, they
had outscored the Bucks 33-12 with 2:33 remaining in the first. Milwaukee did find some luck in scoring baskets and ended the quarter on a 6-2 run. OKC still led by 35-18 after one.
In the second quarter, Oklahoma City continued their onslaught as they opened up a 20 point advantage over their opponents. Even though the Bucks were converting possession into buckets, as they outscored the Thunder 29-26 in the
second quarter, but the ample advantage the visitors held was only reduced to 14 at the half way stage.
In the second half, the Bucks looked to turn this one into a contest. From 5:46 to the 4:10 mark, Milwaukee went on a 7-0 run to pull within 10 points, 76-66. However this run was stopped by Westbrook on the next possession as
he connected on a jump shot, halting the Bucks momentum right there.
OKC responded back with 11-0 run of their own to lead 87-66 with 38.5 seconds remaining in the third.
The game never really got closer after that as the Thunder continued to dominate on both ends of the court. OKC went on to extend their advantage to as much as 28 points, their biggest lead on the night with 2:57 remaining in the
game.
Milwaukee did manage to hold the Thunder scoreless for the remainder of the night while scoring 8 points of their own, even though this last run was off not much use as Bucks were left frustrated throughout the game.
Milwaukee, were hit with a season high five technical fouls, a perfect reflection of the Bucks frustration. Those five technical’s included two for Larry Sanders as he was ejected from the game in the early stages of the fourth
quarter.
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