Thunder at Bucks
The Oklahoma City Thunder look to avoid getting swept on their three-game road trip when they meet the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night. The Thunder - who have yet to beat a playoff team from last season yet - lost 111-103 to the Clippers on Wednesday before suffering a heartbreaking 116-115 loss at Golden State on a last-second shot by Andre Iguodala on Thursday. "It was fun until the last shot," Oklahoma City star Kevin Durant said.
The Bucks made the playoffs last season but their new-look roster hasn’t played like a postseason contender in the early going. Milwaukee has lost four in a row, including a 104-77 setback Friday in Indiana to establish a season-low point total. The Bucks are averaging just 91.6 points and are being outscored by nearly eight points a game.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, FS Oklahoma, FS Wisconsin (Milwaukee)
ABOUT THE THUNDER (5-3): Durant leads the league in scoring at 29.3 points, but had an off-night by his standard in a 20-point effort against the Warriors to snap a string of three games with at least 33 points. Russell Westbrook seems to have recovered from the knee injury he suffered in last season’s playoffs, collecting 50 points and 15 assists over the past two games. Serge Ibaka, who scored a career-high 27 on Thursday, is emerging as the team’s third scoring option with an average 14.9 points.
ABOUT MILWAUKEE (2-6): The injury bug has bitten the Bucks hard, with five players in their ideal rotation - Brandon Knight, Caron Butler, Carlos Delfino, Ersan Ilyasova and Larry Sanders - sitting out Friday’s game. O.J. Mayo has scored at least 20 points in four of Milwaukee’s last five games, but with the short bench the Bucks have struggled to find a consistent secondary scoring option. Khris Middleton has a combined 30 points in the previous two games, but only managed double figures one other time this season.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Oklahoma City is a league-best 33-8 following a loss since the start of the 2011-12 season.
2. The Bucks haven’t beaten the Thunder in Milwaukee since Jan. 2, 2010.
3. Thunder C Kendrick Perkins is expected to rejoin the team after missing the previous two games due to the death of his grandfather.