Oklahoma City looks to avoid a season-high third consecutive loss when the Thunder host the woeful Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday. The Thunder are coming off a 101-88 loss at Denver following a stunning 11-point defeat at Western Conference-worst Utah. They have two things working in their favor as they try to snap the skid, returning home - where they're 15-3 - and facing the Bucks, who have lost four straight and own the league's worst record.
The Thunder have seemed to really miss point guard Russell Westbrook (knee surgery) the past two games, as the ball has stopped moving on offense without an All-Star distributor to complement Kevin Durant. "Everything that happened tonight is correctable, which is good," Thunder coach Scott Brooks told reporters after the loss to the Nuggets. "It's not that we had issues. The fact is everything that we did wrong tonight we can go back and get better." The Bucks surprisingly have won in their last two trips to Oklahoma City but are just 4-14 on the road this season.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN Wisconsin (Milwaukee), FSN Oklahoma (Oklahoma City)
ABOUT THE BUCKS (7-28): Milwaukee is the only team in the league yet to reach double digits in wins, and the Bucks might not get there anytime soon. The rebuilding project appears to be in the early stages, though a rash of injuries certainly haven't helped. There are some piece in place, such as point guard Brandon Knight (15.1 points, 4.4 assists), but even once-promising rookie Giannis Antetokounmpo (6.5 points, 4.5 rebounds) has been unimpressive recently and went scoreless in Friday's 81-72 loss to Chicago.
ABOUT THE THUNDER (27-9): Oklahoma City won its first two games without Westbrook but has lost four of six since. The sky is hardly falling in Oklahoma City, though, as the Thunder share the second-best record in the Western Conference and still have one of the league's top players in Durant (29.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists). Reggie Jackson (13 points, 3.8 assists) has done a decent job stepping into Westbrook's spot in the lineup, but the Thunder lack backcourt depth that can score.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Durant has topped 30 points in two straight games and six of eight in Westbrook's absence, averaging 34.4 points over that span.
2. Milwaukee C John Henson (12.4 points, 8 rebounds, 2.25 blocks) has missed six straight games with a sprained ankle but is expected to join the team on the trip to Oklahoma City and Toronto.
3. Oklahoma City is 10-2 against the Eastern Conference while Milwaukee is 1-9 against the West.