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 However, the rookie showed Tuesday why he was a lottery pick as he
helped propel the Thunder past the Milwaukee Bucks 131-122 at the
Chesapeake Energy Arena.
In 15 minutes of action, Payne came off the bench to score 16
points, hand out three assists and grab three rebounds. He also has
gained the trust of his veteran teammates.
"He played extremely well, man," Thunder forward Kevin Durant said.
"He just keeps getting better and better. This league is about
getting comfortable. The last two games he's played some meaningful
minutes for us. He is aggressive. He is never nervous."
Guard Russell Westbrook posted 27 points on 10 of 22 shooting to go
along with seven rebounds and seven assists. Durant collected 26
points, six boards and eight assists. Durant has an active streak of
18 straight games of scoring 20 or more points in a game.
Center Enes Kanter came off the bench to post 23 points and eight
rebounds. Guard Cameron Payne added 16 points to help Oklahoma City
improve to 22-10.
Bucks guard Khris Middleton led all scorers with 36 points on 13 of
22 shooting. Forward Giannis Antetokounmpo tallied 27 points and 10
rebounds. Guard Michael Carter-Williams scored 19 points as the
Bucks dropped to 12-21.
Milwaukee shot 49 percent from the field and outrebounded Oklahoma
City 47-41. But interim coach Joe Prunty was disappointed they
didn't do better on the defensive end.
"They had a lot of guys contribute and we need to defend much better
than that. There is no doubt about that," Prunty said. "Obviously
their two big guns did some damage. But even a guy like Cameron
Payne came in and contributed for them."
With the Bucks making a surge, it was the Thunder bench that
wrestled momentum back to the home team. Led by Payne, Oklahoma City
opened up 14-point lead in the fourth quarter. He has taken over the
backup point guard duties from guard DJ Augustin and he showed why.
"Coach told me earlier at practice," Payne said. "I just wanted to
come out, be ready and be confident. It's just a process. Just come
to work every day and whenever my name is called be ready."
With 5:49 left in the game, Milwaukee only trailed by seven after a
basket by forward John Henson.
Each time the Bucks tried to get the game closer, the Thunder had an
answer. Either Kanter or Durant scored to push their lead back to 9.
With 2:44 on the clock, Middleton hit two free throws and the Bucks
were back to within seven. But center Steven Adams dropped in a
jumper in the middle of the lane. Antetokounmpo came down and threw
down a put-back dunk to close the gap.
After Westbrook made a tough layup in traffic, Antetokounmpo made 3
of 4 from the free-throw line and the Bucks closed the gap to six
with 1:24 left.
Another Westbrook layup gave Oklahoma City a 127-119 advantage. But
Carter-Williams picked up a fastbreak dunk. Milwaukee got a stop and
handed the ball to Middleton, who shot a 3-pointer that would have
cut the lead down to two points. But it rimmed out and the Thunder
got the rebound.
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Durant was fouled and hit a pair of free throws to put the night
away for Oklahoma City.
"Everybody is touching it, everybody is feeling good," Durant said.
"That's the kind of offense we need. That's easy basketball. We just
have to continue to move the ball land let everybody feel good about
themselves."
Milwaukee's backcourt of Middleton and Carter-Williams started the
night attacking the Thunder. Durant especially had his hands full
trying to keep Middleton away from the 3-point line.
However, after trailing by eight points, Oklahoma City regained
control of the contest by constantly attacking the rim with hard
drives and offensive put-backs. Both Westbrook and Durant put
pressure on the Bucks defenders to keep them out of the lane. The
duo combined to go 15 of 16 from the free-throw line in the first
half.
Coming out of halftime, Milwaukee went down by 17 points and needed
to find a way to slow down Oklahoma City before the game got out of
control. Antetokounmpo and Middleton spearheaded a Bucks run to get
within four points heading into the fourth quarter.
The prospect of playing against Durant helped Antetokounmpo have one
of his best games of the season.
"(Durant) is a guy that everybody looks up to," Antetokounmpo said.
"When I was young I always looked up to him. I just want to be in
his shoes. I want to be in his position one day. He said I was a guy
he would go to war with. I just tried to be tough because that's a
compliment from him."
NOTES: Oklahoma City G Russell Westbrook ranked in the top two in
the NBA in technical fouls twice in the past three seasons. With
only four so far this season, he says that will not happen again.
"I'm done with those days," Westbrook said. "I learned in the
summertime, once they make a call, they ain't changing it. Took me a
while, but I learned it." ... Milwaukee coach Joe Prunty likes what
the team is getting from C Miles Plumlee as he has earned more
minutes due to injuries. "Miles has done a really nice job," Prunty
said. "The last several games he's had situations where he's been
called upon and he's done a really nice job. At the end of the day
we've always talked about next man up." ... After trying to recruit
Bucks F Jabari Parker out of high school to Florida, Thunder coach
Billy Donovan is really high on him. "He is one of those guys who
will play wherever you need him to play," Donovan said. "There are
different things he's experiencing right now as a young player in
the NBA. I just think he has a lot of upside."
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