Thunder back to winning ways, beat Bucks

[March 07, 2016]  (The Sports Xchange) - Giannis Antetokounmpo recorded his third triple-double in the last three weeks, but Kevin Durant scored 32 points for Oklahoma City, which snapped a two-game losing streak with a 104-96 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday afternoon at the Bradley Center.

Durant, himself, just missed his second triple-double of the season. He finished with 12 rebounds and eight assists.

Antetokounmpo scored 26 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and added 10 assists, the last coming on a final-minute feed to Jabari Parker, who also scored 26.

The three triple-doubles are the first of Antetokounmpo's career and all three have come since Feb. 22.

Khris Middleton added 18 for the Bucks, who came on strong in the second half but were doomed from a lackluster effort to open the game.

Milwaukee appeared to struggle with the early start, coming out absolutely flat while the Thunder jumped out to 11-0 before Jabari Parker grabbed a rebound, went the length of the court, overcame a turnover and finished with a reverse layup to get the Bucks on the board.

But that, a Antetokounmpo dunk over Serge Ibaka and a Parker-to-Antetokounmpo alley-up were about the only highlights of a first half that saw the Bucks shoot a paltry 33 percent and go 1-for-11 from beyond the arc.

In all, the Bucks were just 3 of 23 in the first quarter alone while the Thunder went 11 of 19 from the field and got eight points from Ibaka, leading by as many as 20.

Durant scored 17 in the first half and Enes Kanter added 14 of his 18 off the bench for the Thunder, who gave up 14 points on 12 turnovers but shot 53.8 percent and took a 64-48 lead into the break.

Milwaukee rallied late in the third, cutting the deficit to seven with a 3-pointer and jumper from Khris Middleton in the final minute. He'd strike again with four seconds left, finishing a Greg Monroe steal with a layup to get the Bucks within five.

Middleton drained another 3-pointer less than a minute into the fourth to make it a two-point game before Westbrook stemmed the tide with a layup.

But the Bucks ran out of gas from there. Westbrook's bucket sparked a 15-4 run that put Milwaukee away.

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