OKLAHOMA CITY - The Milwaukee Bucks were tasked with overcoming a 20-point deficit on Thursday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves. On Friday night in Oklahoma City, the Bucks faced the opposite challenge — building a 22-point lead in the first quarter and needing to find a way to hold on.
The path may have been different, but the result was the same. Milwaukee answered the call for the second night in a row, earning a 97-95 victory over the Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
“On a back-to-back, after starting the week off a little slow, this was a big win," Bucks coach Jason Kidd said.
But it wasn't easy and it took a little bit of luck.
After a furious comeback led by reigning MVP Russell Westbrook, who scored 40 points on 16 of 34 shooting including hitting a game-tying three-pointer with 4.7 seconds left, the Bucks needed a bucket to avoid overtime.
Kidd wanted the ball in the hands of his star, Giannis Antetokounmpo. That's exactly what happened as he took the inbound and drove baseline, meeting Westbrook on his ascent to the rim and dropping in a tough layup with 1.3 seconds left.
BOX SCORE: Bucks 97, Thunder 95
Upon replay, though, it was much more complicated than that. Antetokounmpo clearly stepped out of bounds on his path to the basket. While the referees stopped play to adjust the clock — from 0.9 seconds to 1.3 — they did not review the call while the Thunder bench erupted in protest.
With no timeouts left, the Thunder had no recourse but to inbound the ball and a desperation heave by Westbrook ahead of the buzzer was nowhere close to going in.
After the buzzer, the sellout crowd let the referees hear it while Thunder coach Billy Donovan and multiple players continued their protested to no avail. Antetokounmpo's game-winner gave him 23 points, 12 rebounds and six assists in the victory.
During the airing of grievances on the court, the Bucks retreated to their locker room to celebrate, which included pouring an ice-water bath on Antetokounmpo inside the locker room door.
“It was ice on him," center John Henson said. "It was a big shot. Big-time finish by him. That’s just what he does for us, man. He attacks the rim and that just shows his maturity — a couple years ago he might have shot the jumper but he went and put it in the basket and got us the win.”
Khris Middleton chipped in 20 points and Henson added 18 along with four blocks. Tony Snell made four three-pointers on the way to a 15-point performance and did his best to corral Westbrook throughout the night.
The Bucks raced out to a 22-point first-quarter lead over the Thunder, which was playing without forward Paul George. Milwaukee shot by 60.9% and grabbed four steals in the period.
The first quarter saw numerous players make contributions for the Bucks. Antetokounmpo played the role of facilitator, dishing out slick passes for five assists, including four on Milwaukee's first five field goals. Middleton carried the scoring load with 11 points in the opening period and Snell wasn't far behind, making three successive three-pointers as the Bucks overwhelmed the Thunder at both ends from the jump.
The Thunder chipped away at the lead throughout the game, making multiple surges especially in the third quarter. They never led and didn't tie the game until Westbrook's three-pointer with 4.7 seconds left.
The win was Milwaukee's first in Oklahoma City since 2013 and gave them a boost heading into Monday's game in Toronto.
“I think it just shows that, again, the guys are getting better understanding time and score and what shots work," Kidd said. "I thought the ball movement was great there in that first half. … We can only build on the last two. Hopefully, we can start the new year off right in Toronto.”
UP NEXT
Teams: Milwaukee Bucks (19-15) vs. Toronto Raptors (24-10).
When: 6:30 p.m. Monday.
Where: Air Canada Centre.
About the Raptors: Toronto has established itself as one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference this season, once again riding stars DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry while getting solid contributions from its stable, deep supporting cast. DeRozan has been stellar, averaging 24.1 points per game while utilizing the three-ball a bit more and is shooting a career-best 32.3%. That number isn't high, but it's a step up for DeRozan and offers a new weapon to one of the NBA's best midrange players. As a team, the Raptors rank fourth in the league in offensive rating behind only Houston, Golden State and Cleveland while ranking sixth in defensive rating.