Online Reporter
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points, dished out 11 assists and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a dominant 122-102 road victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night.
Ajay Mitchell and Kenrich Williams each added 18 for the Thunder, who won their second straight in dominating fashion and have won seven of eight.
Milwaukee fell for the fourth time in its last five. Giannis Antetokounmpo led with 19 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists, while Cole Anthony added 17 points.
Milwaukee was without Myles Turner (ankle) and Kevin Porter Jr. (oblique). The Thunder were also without a strong contingent including Jaylin Williams (glute), Alex Caruso (groin), Isaiah Hartenstein (calf) and Jalen Williams (hamstring).
The Thunder looked like the reigning champs from the get-go as they shot 69.6% from the floor in the first quarter and took a commanding 38-18 advantage going into the second.
The Bucks were able to generate more offense in the second, but did little to dig into their deficit as they won the quarter 33-31.
Notably, the Thunder held Antetokounmpo to just three attempts from the field in the half with eight points. Ajay Mitchell had 18 to lead Oklahoma City at the half while Cole Anthony had 13 off the bench to lead Milwaukee.
Gilgeous-Alexander then took over in the third. The reigning MVP scored 15 points and the Thunder continued to hold down Antetokounmpo as they went into the fourth up 22.
The Thunder led by double-digits from halfway through the first quarter on through the end of the game. They beat the Bucks for the fourth consecutive regular-season contest, not including the NBA Cup championship a season ago.
The Bucks have lost back-to-back games at home by more than 20 points for the first time since 2016 and just the fifth time in their history.
Jalen Duren collected 20 points and 15 rebounds and Daniss Jenkins added 17 points while starting in place of All-Star Cade Cunningham, lifting the visiting Detroit Pistons to a 112-104 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday.
Duren sank 7 of 11 shots from the floor to power the Pistons to their fourth win in a row and their seventh victory in eight contests.
Duncan Robinson drained four 3-pointers to highlight his 15-point performance for Detroit, which played without both Cunningham (left hip contusion, illness) and Caris LeVert (illness).
Elsewhere, Jaylen Brown had 30 points, 10 rebounds and five assists to lead the Boston Celtics to a 119-104 victory over the visiting Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night.
Brown was 11 of 22 from the field, but also committed a game-high five turnovers. Sam Hauser connected on 5 of his 7 3-point attempts and added 17 points for the Celtics, who received 17 points and nine rebounds from Neemias Queta.
Boston, which has won three of four, made 12 of its 31 3-point attempts and shot 47.7 percent overall (42 of 88).
Mathew Masinge