The Sports Xchange
Oct 31, 2017
MILWAUKEE -- Paul George scored 20 points, Carmelo Anthony had 17 and Russell Westbrook added 12 as the Oklahoma City Thunder cruised to a 110-91 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night at the Bradley Center.
Westbrook finished an assist short of his fourth triple-double of the season, dishing out nine assists while grabbing 10 rebounds.
Jeremi Grant also finished with 17 for the Thunder, who shot 49.4 percent, hit 12 of 28 3-pointers (42.9 percent) and made 18 of 21 free throws.
The Thunder (4-3) won consecutive games for the first time this season, while Milwaukee (4-3) lost for the second time in three games.
Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with a team-high 28 points to lead the Bucks but failed to reach the 30-point mark for just the second time this season. He hit 9 of 14 shots, including a pair of 3-pointers, but Milwaukee shot just 42.1 percent overall, including a 9-of-30 mark (30 percent) from beyond the arc
Oklahoma City wasted little time establishing itself against the Bucks, using a 16-0 run to jump out to a 20-8 first-quarter lead.
Antetokounmpo drew his third foul just a minute into the second quarter and spent the next eight minutes on the bench. Milwaukee struggled to keep pace without him in the game and fell behind by as many as 24 before going into halftime down 60-42.
The Thunder's big three of Anthony, George and Westbrook outscored the Bucks in the opening half, combining for 48 points on their own.
George knocked down two 3-pointers in the third quarter as the Thunder, which connected at a 54 percent clip through the first two quarters, cooled off, going 8 of 21 from the floor, but made 5 of 10 attempts from distance.
NOTES: Bucks C Greg Monroe missed his second game because of a left calf injury that is expected to sideline him for at least two weeks. ... Through the first six games of the season, Oklahoma City led the league in steals per game (11.50) and was second in opponents' turnovers per game (19.7). ... Bucks F D.J. Wilson scored his first career points, finishing with four while playing a career-high seven minutes. Wilson, Milwaukee's first-round selection in the June draft, had played a total of two minutes in the team's first six games. ... The Bucks travel to Charlotte on Wednesday for their second back-to-back set of the season. The Thunder are off until Friday, when they host the Boston Celtics before heading out for another three-game road trip.