Kevin Durant racked up 33 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists as host Oklahoma City survived a sluggish outing to pull away from Milwaukee with a final score of 101-85 on Saturday.
Serge Ibaka collected 17 points and 17 rebounds for the Thunder, who avoided a season-high third consecutive loss. Jeremy Lamb added 17 points off the bench and Thabo Sefolosha scored 14.
Reserves Luke Ridnour and O.J. Mayo each scored 16 points to lead the Bucks, who have lost five straight and 13 of 15. Rookie Giannis Antetokounmpo tallied 13 points and 11 rebounds and Brandon Knight also scored 13 for Milwaukee.
The Bucks missed their first 10 shots but only trailed by two when Antetokounmpo finally got them on the board with a dunk 5:23 into the game. Oklahoma City led 14-10 after one quarter before both teams came to life somewhat and the Thunder took a 38-35 lead into halftime.
Oklahoma City heated up and went off for 39 points in the third as Durant scored 14 points and the Thunder stretched the lead to 77-62 entering the final stanza. Mayo scored eight straight points and Ersan Ilyasova hit a 3-pointer to pull the Bucks within 81-75 with nine minutes left, but that was as close as Milwaukee got down the stretch.
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Oklahoma City 101, Milwaukee 85
Milwaukee 10 25 27 23 -- 85
Oklahoma City 14 24 39 24 -- 101
MILWAUKEE (85)
Antetokounmpo 5-12 3-4 13, Middleton 3-14 1-3 8, Knight 6-15 0-0 13, Ilyasova 3-9 0-0 8, Sanders 0-1 0-0 0, Mayo 5-11 2-4 16, Ridnour 6-11 0-0 16, Udoh 1-2 0-0 2, Raduljica 3-6 3-3 9. Totals 32-81 9-14 85.
OKLAHOMA CITY (101)
Durant 8-18 15-17 33, Sefolosha 6-16 0-0 14, Ibaka 7-14 2-2 17, Jackson 1-8 0-0 2, Perkins 1-5 1-2 3, J.Lamb 6-10 2-2 17, Fisher 4-9 0-0 10, N.Collison 2-3 0-0 4, Adams 0-2 1-4 1, Jones III 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 35-86 21-27 101.
3-Point Goals Milwaukee 12-31 (Ridnour 4-5, Mayo 4-8, Ilyasova 2-4, Middleton 1-3, Knight 1-8, Antetokounmpo 0-3), Oklahoma City 10-25 (J.Lamb 3-5, Fisher 2-4, Durant 2-5, Sefolosha 2-6, Ibaka 1-2, Jones III 0-1, Jackson 0-2). Fouled out None. Rebounds Milwaukee 45 (Antetokounmpo 11), Oklahoma City 66 (Ibaka 17). Assists Milwaukee 22 (Antetokounmpo, Ridnour 5), Oklahoma City 24 (Durant 7). Total Fouls Milwaukee 23 (Raduljica 5), Oklahoma City 16 (Perkins, N.Collison 3). A--18,203.
