OKLAHOMA CITY — If someone were to guess what the Oklahoma City Thunder’s regular-season starters could look like, Tuesday served as a pretty accurate preview.
Facing the Milwaukee Bucks, the Thunder utilized their 124-101 preseason win over them as a chance to see how their starters hold up against a title contender for 75% of a game.
Three quarters of play showed that they not only held up well against two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard — they thoroughly dominated the duo.
Playing their starters 22-plus minutes, the Thunder had full control of their matchup against the Bucks and led 96-75 after three quarters. Following a 59-54 halftime lead, OKC scored 37 points in the third quarter to pull away.
It was a well-balanced attack by the Thunder’s starter. Four scored at least 10 points with Josh Giddey, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren contributing 18-plus points.
Antetokounmpo was limited to 18 points and 10 rebounds. Lillard — who is very familiar with the OKC hoops — had just five points and four assists. The Bucks’ leading scorer was Malik Beasley, who scored 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting and 6-of-11 from 3.
A growing preseason theme has been the Thunder’s offense humming along and generating high-scoring games. Heading into Tuesday, OKC ranked No. 3 among NBA teams in preseason offensive rating at 115.7.
That number will increase due to in large part of the Thunder’s starters. OKC shot 48-of-85 (56.5%) from the field and dished out 34 assists. It also shot 18-of-39 (46.2%) from 3.
“I think it’s great,” Holmgren said on the offense. “We’re really hitting a good stride and figuring things out… I feel like we’re in a really good spot. We’re starting to click and mesh with each other. Coach talks about having good efficiency and the more efficient you play as a team, the bigger the pie is for everybody.”
The defense was also equally impressive against the Bucks. Outside of Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez, Milwaukee played their regular starters a decent chunk of minutes. The Bucks struggled on offense as they shot below 40% from the field.
“Like I said the other night, I was a little disappointed where we were defensively and I thought tonight was a nice step forward,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said about their defense. “Lot of progress on that end of the floor. Looked like we knew what we were doing in our normal schemes.”
Daigneault hinted at using one of their final two preseason games as a chance to ramp up the minutes of their starting lineup and it looks like he used their blowout win over the Bucks as the opportunity to do so.
With this likely being the last time the starting lineup played extensive minutes for the remainder of the preseason, the Thunder’s five looked excellent.
“It’s great,” Holmgren said about playing a nearly healthy Bucks in preseason. “We’re gonna see great teams like this all season long so the earlier we get to see that type of competition and really sharpen our swords.”
Let’s assign Thunder player grades for this preseason win.
Chet Holmgren: B
Holmgren drew his third start in four preseason outings against the Bucks. This time, he played within the flow of the offense and served as a finisher inside of the paint when surrounded by defenders.
In 26 minutes, Holmgren had 18 points on efficient 7-of-8 shooting, three rebounds and two blocks. He went 2-of-3 from 3, where his two made attempts were from the corner spots and assisted by Gilgeous-Alexander and Giddey.
The seven-footer served as a paint finisher for OKC, as four of his five baskets inside the paint were assists with both of his dunks coming off of passes.
This game also saw Holmgren play alongside another true big. Daigneault used their frontcourt injuries as a chance to experiment and see how he’d look next to Olivier Sarr.
“We have smart bigs,” Daigneault said on the two-big lineup. “Sarr is smart. Jaylin Williams is smart. (Holmgren’s) smart.”
Once Bucks coach Adrian Griffin confirmed Antetokounmpo’s participation, many hoped Holmgren would match up with the 6-foot-11, 243-pound two-time MVP. To their disappointment — outside of an Antetokounmpo dunk with Holmgren near his proximity — that didn’t really happen on the floor.
Alas, maybe there’ll be better luck in the regular season. That doesn’t mean Holmgren didn’t defensively impress in other ways though.
“He had good gameplan execution tonight,” Daigneault said about Holmgren. “He’s gonna be in a billion pick-and-rolls defensively and they’re all kinda nuanced… Tonight he moved himself up a little bit with Lillard and backed a little bit with other guys. I thought he showed good intellect on that end of the floor.”
🚫🚫🚫 pic.twitter.com/TTQNYDrZPr
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 18, 2023
Continuing to create opportunities for each other 🤝 pic.twitter.com/GqQU10ntqW
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 18, 2023
SO…this Chet guy is pretty good.@okcthunder | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/624xGxVuAo
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) October 18, 2023
Josh Giddey: B+
This was Giddey’s best performance in preseason yet. In 24 minutes, he finished with 19 points on efficient 9-of-12 shooting, seven rebounds and five assists.
The 21-year-old did his scoring damage inside of the paint, where he went 9-of-11. The chemistry between Giddey and Holmgren continues to grow as the pair matched for three Holmgren buckets inside of the paint and another on a corner 3-pointer.
“It’s been fun,” Giddey said on his playmaking. “It’s only been a few games together. I think the more we practice and play, the better it’s going to get. Specifically talking about the starting group, having five guys who can handle the ball and make plays is such a luxury.”
Finishing through the contact 💪 pic.twitter.com/gPUwTVFUf3
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 18, 2023
Jalen Williams: B
A monster third quarter for Williams sealed another top-notch preseason performance for the second-year wing.
In 25 minutes, Williams finished with 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting, six rebounds and three assists. He scored eight points on 3-of-3 shooting in the third quarter to put the finishing touches on a nice extensive preseason look.
Arguably the highlight of the game featured Williams when he was the recipient of a half-court lob pass from Vasilije Micic. His lengthy wingspan will certainly come in handy for Micic and other playmakers on the roster.
Did you see this Micić lob to @jdubwttp jam 🤯 pic.twitter.com/HkFBBkJjwI
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 18, 2023
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: C
Sharing the court with the starters, Gilgeous-Alexander played a secondary role in their preseason win over the Bucks.
In 25 minutes, Gilgeous-Alexander had 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting, five assists, five rebounds and three steals. He also went 2-of-5 from 3.
“I think that’s the best part about our team,” Giddey said about their unselfishness. “Having to sacrifice. Some nights, you’re not going to have the ball as much as others… We got a group that understands — specifically going back to our starting group — we’re all good with the ball on our hands.”
This wasn’t the usual drive-and-draw game by Gilgeous-Alexander, who settled for mostly jumpers — a new wrinkle to his scoring game that wasn’t really featured last season. If he plans on expanding his repertoire this season, then preseason serves as the perfect environment to experiment.
Shai over Giannis for the 3 👀@okcthunder | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/EbkCWjAhZm
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) October 18, 2023
Going coast 2️⃣ coast pic.twitter.com/bmEmD2IZZH
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 18, 2023
