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Bucks fall to Thunder 116-112 without Myles Turner
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- Bucks fall to Thunder 116-112 without Myles Turner
The Milwaukee Bucks wrapped up their exhibition schedule on Oct. 14 at Fiserv Forum, where they lost 116-112 to the Oklahoma City Thunder . The Bucks fell to 3-1 in the preseason while the Thunder improved to 3-2.
The Bucks took a 90-87 lead into the fourth quarter as both teams began to empty their benches later in the period. Giannis Antetokounmpo played 25 minutes for the Bucks, checking out with 3:42 to go in third quarter with the game tied at 82. He scored 16 points on 5 of 8 shooting and went 6-10 from the free throw line in that time while handing out four assists and pulling down seven rebounds. He also had two steals and a blocked shot.
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BOX SCORE: Thunder 116, Bucks 112
Among the other Milwaukee starters, Kevin Porter Jr. added 15 points and Gary Trent Jr . scored 11. Cole Anthony scored a team-high 21 off the bench for Milwaukee. Fellow reserve guard Ryan Rollins suffered a cut above his right eye early in the fourth quarter that required stitches. Rollins scored 13 points in 17 minutes for the Bucks.
Oklahoma City had two starters in double figures, led by reigning league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (23) and Isaiah Hartenstein (13).
The Bucks open the regular season on Oct. 22, welcoming back Khris Middleton and his Washington Wizards to Fiserv Forum.
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Bucks center Myles Turner held out with right calf soreness
Milwaukee held out newly acquired center Myles Turner against Oklahoma City with soreness in his right calf. Last season with Indiana , Turner dealt with soreness in his right calf that caused him to miss a game on Nov. 18.
On Feb. 3, Turner missed a game with a strain in his peroneal muscles, which are located in the front of the lower leg and play a role in ankle movement. He returned to play Feb. 4, but after playing just about six minutes in a game Feb. 6, he missed three straight games heading into the all-star break.
Turner played 24 fast paced minutes against Chicago on Oct. 12 , scoring 19 points on 5 of 8 shooting. He also had six rebounds and a blocked shot.
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Bobby Portis Jr. started in place of Turner for the Bucks, scoring nine points on 3 of 7 shooting. He also had eight rebounds in 20 minutes of play.
Bucks guard Gary Harris did not play his second straight preseason game as the team said he is managing a strain in his right hamstring. The 31-year-old played 10 minutes against Detroit on Oct. 9.
More: Which Milwaukee Bucks are ready to stand up and fill the void when Giannis Antetokounmpo sits?
Bucks players get last game in before roster cut
NBA teams don't have to trim camp rosters down to the maximum 15 guaranteed deals until 4 p.m. on Oct. 20, but the Bucks do not have any more preseason games until then – so the contest against the Thunder was the last chance for players to make an impression in a game situation.
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That said, Rivers felt the coaches have gotten a good handle on who will be on the team come opening night against Washington.
Bucks guard Gary Trent Jr. (5) goes up for a shot against the Thunder during the first half on Oct. 14 at Fiserv Forum.
"I think it's been a good camp," Rivers said before the game. "It's been very competitive. Our buy in is really high. From a coaching standpoint, if you get buy in you get a chance to get a lot of stuff done and win.
"Our pieces fit. And we have a lot of pieces. I do think we're 11-to-12 deep. I think our bench has a chance to be incredible, come in and change games.
"We have to figure it out, what alignment we want to go to. There's a big lineup we can go with, a small lineup. We just want to get that right sooner than later. But a lot of that has come out of camp, so it's been a great camp for us."
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More: Milwaukee Bucks fostering roster competition in training camp: Who is in the mix?
Rivers' optimism around the second unit has been prevalent since the first preseason game in Miami on Oct. 6, and he went 10 deep through three quarters with Rollins, Kyle Kuzma , Jericho Sims , Taurean Prince and Anthony being the second wave.
Against Oklahoma City, Amir Coffey and Andre Jackson Jr. got fourth quarter run against the Thunder while paired with Anthony, Kuzma and Sims.
Did Amir Coffey earn a roster spot on the Bucks?
Coffey was a relatively late summer signing for the Bucks, inking a non-guaranteed training camp deal in mid-August and played somewhat sparingly in the preseason, but Rivers mentioned the veteran wing as a potential starting small forward on consecutive game nights to end the exhibition schedule.
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Rivers first slid Coffey into the starting small forward conversation with Kuzma and Prince following the Bucks' game in Chicago on Oct. 12 and then did again before taking on the Thunder on Oct. 14 when noting that AJ Green may not start every game in a three-guard lineup.
"I think we're gonna have a lineup that can change depending on the opponent," Rivers said pregame on Oct. 14. "The one lineup we really like is with (Green) and (Gary Trent). The numbers tell you the more shooting you put around Giannis, the better your team is. Then there's night where the threes (small forwards) are really big and tough – this could be one of those nights if we thought about it – and we can use 'Kuz' and we can use Amir and we can use 'TP.' So we have a lot of options. But I do like that lineup."
Coffey, 28, largely rotated in with deep second unit rotations during the four preseason games.
He broke into the league with Rivers' Los Angeles Clippers in 2019-20 as an undrafted free agent. The 6-foot, 7-inch wing played 72 games for the Clippers last season, including 13 starts.
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"He's been great," Rivers said of Coffey's camp. "He's a high IQ player. I think he's probably had the best compliment I've heard in a long time.
"One of our coaches said they don't have to coach him. That's a great compliment, because that means he's always in the right place at the right time, doing all the right stuff. That's what you want from him.
"He's so different than when I had him. I had him right when he was coming in the league, still learning. He's always been just a solid defender but he's making the three, just makes the right plays. He's really a great guy to have on your team."
Five numbers
6-10: Giannis Antetokounmpo 's free throw performance vs. the Thunder. Antetokounmpo is coming off a summer where he made 65.6% (42-for-64) from the line in Euro Basket. He shot a career-low 61.7% from the free throw line last season, but has made 65.1% of his attempts from the charity stripe over the last three seasons when he's led the league in attempts per game.
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16:Steals by the Thunder.
23-19:Points and minutes played by Gilgeous-Alexander. He made his presence felt immediately, scoring 14 points on 5 of 7 shooting in 12 first quarter minutes. He made 8 of his 10 shots and 6 of 8 free throws in playing just the first half. Gilgeous-Alexander added six assists and three steals in his relatively short stint.
53.8:Prince's preseason 3-point shooting percentage, going 7-for-13 in his four appearances. Prince finished third in the NBA in 3-point shooting last year, knocking down 43.9% of his triples.
84: Two-point shooting percentage by the Thunder in the first half, as they went 21-for-25 from inside the arc to take a 73-65 lead at the break. Such efficiency helped them negate a 50% shooting percentage from behind the 3-point line by the Bucks.
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Such a two-point shooting performance by the Thunder starters (and top four reserves) was the low point of a troubling trend for Milwaukee in the preseason, as Chicago shot 66% (62 points) after Detroit shot 54.7% (58 points). In the exhibition opener against Miami, the Heat scored 50 points on 43.9% shooting from two-point range.
Is Giannis playing?
Yes, per head coach Doc Rivers. The Bucks star wanted to play the two final preseason games and he suited up against Chicago on Oct. 12, playing about 22 minutes. Rivers said his intent is to play Antetokounmpo about that many tonight. The Bucks do not open the regular season until Oct. 22 vs. Washington, so it's reasonable to think he will play with the starters again for a bit vs. the Thunder.
Bucks starters
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Guards: Gary Trent Jr., Kevin Porter Jr. AJ Green
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Forward: Giannis Antetokounmpo
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Center: Bobby Portis Jr.
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Milwaukee Bucks injury report
There are no official injury reports in the preseason, but there were two notable absences for the game vs. the Thunder:
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Myles Turner, out (right calf soreness)
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Gary Harris, out (right hamstring strain)
What time is the Brewers first pitch?
Game 2 of the National League Championship Series will get going at about 7 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on TBS.
What channel is the Bucks game on?
The game will be simulcast, nationally on Peacock (with Noah Eagle, Jamal Crawford and Zora Stephenson on the call) and locally on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin (with Lisa Byington and Wesley Matthews on the call).
Bucks make roster moves
The team is not required to trim its camp roster down to 15 until 4 p.m. CT on Oct. 20, but the team did waive Cormac Ryan and two-way guard Jamaree Bouyea on Monday. Alex Antetokounmpo will sign a two-way deal to replace Bouyea, but that move has not been officially announced by the team. So, as of pregame on Oct. 14, the Bucks have 19 players available for the final preseason tilt.
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Bucks vs. Thunder odds, over/under
The Bucks are 5.5-point favorites over the Thunder, and the over/under is set at 232.5 points per BetMGM.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bucks fall to Thunder 116-112 without Myles Turner
