MILWAUKEE _ The Milwaukee Bucks weren't in for any treats on Halloween. That much was clear early in Tuesday's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
But the Bucks did perform a trick. For long stretches, their offense disappeared in a 110-91 loss. The one-sided affair was reminiscent of Milwaukee's 31-point beatdown at the hands of the Thunder in April in Oklahoma City.
"When you play grownups, you've got to be ready," Bucks coach Jason Kidd said. "We weren't ready to play the grownups tonight."
Facing a tough, physical Thunder squad that has established itself as one of the best defenses in the NBA in the opening weeks of the season, good looks for the Bucks were few and far between. Oklahoma City's game plan emphasized making things as difficult as possible for Giannis Antetokounmpo _ who entered the night averaging a league-high 34.7 points per game _ with Andre Roberson primarily taking on the assignment of blanketing Milwaukee's star.
The focus on Antetokounmpo didn't open much up for the rest of the Bucks, though. At least nothing they could consistently take advantage of. Antetokounmpo finished with 28 hard-earned points on 9-of-14 shooting, exiting the game early in the fourth quarter with the outcome already clear and a game in Charlotte looming Wednesday. No other Bucks player reached double figures as the team shot 32 of 76 (42.1 percent) from the field, including just 9 of 30 (30 percent) on 3-pointers to go with 15 turnovers.
"I think we're a little inconsistent moving the ball, sharing the ball or not dribbling," Kidd said. "That's just something we've got to get better at. When we do move the ball things go a little bit better."
Tuesday night was representative of the Bucks' offensive struggles thus far. Through seven games, the Bucks have not been able to formulate an offensive identity, outside of Antetokounmpo scoring at a clip unseen around Milwaukee since the days of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
"I'm not sure," guard Malcolm Brogdon said when asked if the team had established an offensive identity yet. "I think we know what we want to be and we work towards it and we see glimpses of it, but I don't think we're consistent with it yet."
Milwaukee didn't start the game poorly on offense, but it didn't take long. After jumping out to an 8-4 lead, the Bucks went cold.
Over the ensuing six minutes without another basket, including nine missed shots and three turnovers. The open looks didn't go down, transition opportunities led to nothing and any semblance of offensive flow didn't exist as the Thunder embarked on a 16-0 run from which the Bucks never recovered.
It didn't help that Antetokounmpo was whistled for his third foul _ his second offensive foul _ just over a minute into the second quarter, which prompted coach Jason Kidd to take him out. Antetokounmpo, for all of Oklahoma City's efforts, had been the only Bucks player to get anything going with 10 points on five shots to that point.
With Antetokounmpo out, the Bucks slipped back into offensive malaise. Khris Middleton, Milwaukee's other go-to option, continued his stretch of struggling in first halves, missing his first six shots on the way to finishing 3 of 13 with nine points.
The Thunder took advantage of the Bucks being discombobulated, doubling their lead from 10 to 20 over 5{ minutes with Antetokounmpo out, and never looked back.
Reigning MVP Russell Westbrook performed his usual sorcery, commanding the Thunder offense with 12 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in just 26{ minutes of action. Paul George led Oklahoma City with 20 points, Carmelo Anthony chipped in 17 and Steve Adams put up a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
