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 After a thrilling victory over then-undefeated Memphis Saturday
night, the Bucks followed with a 85-78 victory Tuesday over the
Oklahoma City Thunder, marking the first time since March 2013 that
the franchise -- which finished an NBA-worst 15-67 a year ago -- has
won back-to-back games.
"It is something positive," shooting guard O.J. Mayo said. "It
didn't happen for us last year but we put last year behind us. This
year it happened early."
For the second straight game, forward Giannis Antetokounmpo played a
leading role for Milwaukee.
He set a career high with 18 points against the Grizzles, then came
back with 14 against the Thunder on 6-of-13 shooting with nine
rebounds and a pair of blocked shots in 25 minutes off the bench. He
spent most of his time playing power forward against the Thunder's
Serge Ibaka.
"Game by game, practice by practice, I get more comfortable,"
Antetokounmpo said. "I think it is a spot that can help me because I
usually play with bigger guys than me. So far, I like it."
 Antetokounmpo's effort was part of a strong showing by Milwaukee's
reserves, which produced 53 of the Bucks' points on 45 percent
shooting. Mayo contributed a team-high 19 of those points and center
Zaza Pachulia added eight, along with 10 rebounds, four assists, two
steals and two blocked shots.
The Bucks' bench came up big in the second quarter.
Milwaukee went 7-for-20 from the field and turned the ball over
seven times in the first quarter, to fall behind 22-15. But things
turned around quickly after Bucks coach Jason Kidd went to his
second unit. Pachulia hit three of four shots and pulled down six of
his boards while Antetokounmpo, point guard Nate Wolters and guard
Jerryd Bayless each added four during the quarter, as Milwaukee
outscored the Thunder by 10 and took a 41-38 lead into the break.
"They all give us a spark," Kidd said. "That's the nice thing about
being a young, deep team. We're able to call on those guys when
we're a little flat and tonight, those guys responded."
The Thunder's zone defense kept things close after halftime,
especially in the final quarter when Milwaukee went 5 for 19 from
the field and 0 for 6 from the 3-point line, but it wasn't enough to
make up for a 5-of-20 fourth quarter.
"I didn't come through enough," Thunder point guard Reggie Jackson
said. "I tried to get my teammates some easier baskets, and
defensively, we need to do better in order for us to win."
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Jackson hit 12 of 21 field-goal attempts and hit two 3-pointers to
finish with a game-high 29 points,
Ibaka added 14 points with seven rebounds and guard Anthony Morrow,
in the lineup for the first time this season, scored 10 points in 15
minutes off the bench.
"We competed," Thunder head coach Scott Brooks said. "We couldn't
make any shots. We started off moving the ball really well in that
first quarter, but we stopped making shots in the second and then we
didn't move the ball well at all in the second half.
"We have to come back tomorrow, look at some film and come back
tomorrow night. That's the thing about the NBA, you can't worry
about tonight's game, you have to focus on the next one."
The loss dropped Oklahoma City to 0-5 on the road this season.
NOTES: With eight players out due to injury this season, the Thunder
got a boost Tuesday with the return of G Anthony Morrow, who had not
played this season while recovering from a strained left MCL. Head
coach Scott Brooks said Morrow would play between 10-17 minutes
against the Bucks. He played 15 minutes. ... Bucks F Giannis
Antetokounmpo has reached double-digit scoring in five of his eight
games this season. ... Milwaukee's 9.9 steals per game before
Tuesday represent the third-highest mark in the NBA this season. ...
The Thunder began the day 0-4 on the road this season. They are now
0-5 ... The Bucks announced shortly before tipoff that F Khris
Middleton would dress but wasn't likely to play because of a sore
right knee. He did not play. ... Milwaukee has held its last five
opponents to less than 100 points.
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