The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Toronto Raptors to end their season-high three-game losing streak and now hope to continue winning to try to keep up with, and possibly surpass, the Western Conference leading San Antonio Spurs. In order to accomplish this, Oklahoma City has to get past the Milwaukee Bucks.
While the Thunder were one loss away from four straight defeats, the Bucks have won four straight to improve to a .500 record on the season. The wins were not over solid competition, with victories over the Washington Wizards, Cleveland Cavaliers, Charlotte Hornets and Portland Trail Blazers. The Bucks are 19-4 against teams below .500.
Regardless of the competition, the Bucks averaged 107.5 points per game while the Thunder have only averaged 92.5 points over the last four games. With that scoring discrepancy, the Thunder can't take anything for granted. The game also takes place on the road at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.
Brandon Jennings leads the Bucks, averaging 18.8 points and 5.6 assists a game. Other top contributors are Monta Ellis, with 20.5 points, and Ersan Ilyasova, with 8.9 rebounds a game.
Thunder fans feel uneasy when it comes to the Thunder's turnovers. The Bucks have 785 turnovers over the season, averaging 14 a game. On the other hand, the Thunder have 919 on the season, averaging 16.4 a game. Most of the Thunder's losses came due to then turnover ratio and they fall short against Milwaukee.
To make matters worse, the Thunder have always struggled against the Bucks. As a matter of fact, Milwaukee beat Oklahoma City two of the last three teams they faced off. Both of the wins came in overtime, including a 110-106 overtime victory in the 2010-11 season finale. This is the only game of the 2011-12 season that the teams face off.
For the Thunder, Kevin Durant still leads the team and ranks second in the NBA with 27.8 points per game. Russell Westbrook ranks right behind him at fifth in the NBA with 24.2 points.
Serge Ibaka still leads the NBA in blocks and has pretty much wrapped up the blocking title for the second year in a row, with 3.5 a game. In the shortened season, Ibaka already has 198 blocks, matching his career high from last season, with a number of games remaining.
The game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Milwaukee Bucks tips off at 8:00 p.m. EST.
Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and is an avid sports fan that has lived in Oklahoma for over 40 years. He used to religiously follow the Dallas Mavericks until Oklahoma City found a team to call their own.
Source: NBA.COM
Other articles by Shawn S. Lealos:
- Oklahoma City Thunder Breaks Season Long Three-Game Losing Streak: A Fan's Take
- Kendrick Perkins Has Technical Against Miami Heat Rescinded: A Fan's Take
- Oklahoma City Thunder's Kendrick Perkins Called Dirty by Miami Heat Player: A Fan's Take
- Will the Oklahoma City Thunder Lose Their No. 1 Seed to the Spurs? a Fan's Take
- Did LeBron James Wrap Up MVP with Win Over Oklahoma City Thunder: A Fan's Take
No comments:
Post a Comment