Thunder at Bucks
One of the few players in the league capable of filling a boxscore like Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook is Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the two are both coming off big games. Westbrook and Antetokounmpo will square off on Monday, when the Thunder visit the Bucks.
Milwaukee earned a split of a four-game road trip with a 116-96 win at the Chicago Bulls on Saturday, sparked by Antetokounmpo's 35 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, seven blocks and two steals to cap off a month in which he posted 24.8 points and 9.3 rebounds. "He's one of those Kobe Bryant, LeBron James-type players," Bucks rookie guard Malcolm Brogdon told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "Playing with a guy like that makes the game easy." Westbrook bounced back from an awful performance in a loss at Memphis on Thursday by collecting 17 points, 14 assists and 12 rebounds while committing only one turnover in a 114-88 triumph over the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday. The Thunder are winners of five of their last six and Westbrook recorded three triple-doubles in that span.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Oklahoma, FSN Wisconsin (Milwaukee)
ABOUT THE THUNDER (20-13): Westbrook got his backcourt partner back on Saturday, when Victor Oladipo (wrist) returned from a nine-game absence and logged 29 minutes. Oladipo contributed 15 points in the win and was part of a defensive effort that limited the Clippers starting backcourt to 5-of-20 from the floor. "I give Victor, the coaching staff and the medical staff a lot of credit because when you can’t practice and can’t play in games there are things you have to do to work on your conditioning," Thunder coach Billy Donovan told reporters. "It was great to see him come back, get his feet under him and play as well as he did tonight."
ABOUT THE BUCKS (16-16): Brogdon put together an Antetokounmpo-like performance in Saturday's win by posting a triple-double in his second career start. Brogdon, who is starting in place of Matthew Dellavedova (hamstring), went for 15 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds against the Bulls and scored in double figures in four of the last six games. "We're holding him back; blame it on the coach," Milwaukee coach Jason Kidd told reporters of Brogdon. "He's a special person. For him to be asked to start and run the team with Giannis and Jabari (Parker), he has handled everything we've thrown at him."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Parker is averaging 26 points on 31-of-47 shooting in the last three games.
2. Thunder rookie SG Alex Abrines scored in double figures in each of the last four games but left Saturday's contest with a head injury and is day-to-day.
3. Oklahoma City took the last three in the series.