Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC Thunder cruise past Bucks to improve to 24-1 vs East

MILWAUKEE — Giannis Antetokounmpo somehow let the pair slip past him. 

Two 7-footers, one rangy, the other stocky. One with the physical force and audacity to match that of the Greek Freak, the other with the length to not care about either. 

Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren, or Thing 1 & Thing 2 as they appeared Sunday, often stood directly in Antetokounmpo’s line of sight. Peripheral pests. Chest-to-chest challengers. A handful that Antetokounmpo didn’t care to discuss. 

“I don’t know, you’ve gotta go ask the coach,” Antetokounmpo said when asked why the pair was so effective in the Thunder’s 121-105 win. “I wasn’t paying attention to those two.”

They were paying attention to him, though. 

According to Courtside, the NBA’s extensive in-game tracking tool, Antetokounmpo made just two of his eight attempts when defended by Hartenstein, who matched up with him directly for 7:03. Of the two shots he made, one was a mid-range jumper, a look worth forcing even if Antetokounmpo has weaponized the area. 

Hartenstein had reinforcements. Holmgren lurking behind him. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander roaming nearby. Cason Wallace, hovering with a poker face — the blank stare that’s often just his default expression — and a thirst for the ball. 

The circumstances allowed Hartenstein to bump chests with Antetokounmpo. To get physical, be the bruiser he was hired to be. A bit expensive for a bouncer, but underpaid as a Giannis deterrent on the second night of a back-to-back. 

“Today I think you really saw how much that big lineup can help," Hartenstein said. "A lot of people focus on the offensive side and I think we've made big leaps in that regard playing together. But I think we're also figuring out the defensive side. ... Me and Chet talk a lot. I think that helps."

Among the earliest questions of the Hartenstein & Holmgren pairing was their defense. Holmgren’s place as a four, Hartenstein’s capabilities in different coverages that might pull him higher. But the ever-tall Bucks were always going to be an important data point. 

"It’s improved over the course of the amount of games that we’ve done it, which is expected,” coach Mark Daigneault said. “They’re good players. They’re impactful players. They want to get it right. … I think early on, when we were playing that lineup, we were playing against perimeter-oriented teams, which can skew your impression of it. Tonight we used it against a team it was really impactful against." 

Antetokounmpo finished with 21 points and 10 assists on 7-for-15 shooting, his least efficient game in what might be his best season. 

OKC’s troublesome big men didn’t stop there. 

Hartenstein played perhaps his best offensive game in the uniform, a plus-23 after tallying 24 points, 12 rebounds and three assists on 11-of-15 shooting in 32 minutes. 

Holmgren added 16 points and eight rebounds on nine shots. 

The German made absurd passes, with possessions flowing through him like a river. Hartenstein dished handoffs, he threw no-looks, he pitched back-door passes that shredded Milwaukee’s defense. Almost no pass that left his hands wandered into no man’s land, finishing with two turnovers and what felt like scores of potential assists. 

Hockey couldn’t fathom anything quite like him. 

Alongside Holmgren, they played fruitful minutes, running actions the way they did in Boston earlier in the week. This time, with the pair’s connection a game older, they seemed to have a better understanding of when to spring into action, when to screen, where to be. 

All three of Holmgren’s assists were one-hand, live-dribble zips to a cutting Hartenstein. Their movement felt telepathic at times. 

"We just had to figure out what spots to get into," Hartenstein said of Holmgren. "If you played the five the whole season — the whole time he's been in the NBA — you have to figure out your spots again."

They always seemed to know where each other was. Antetokounmpo, wrapped up in a Herculean workload, apparently didn’t. 

Paint disparity 

Beyond Antetokounmpo, the Bucks’ interior defense was ravaged. 

The Thunder outscored Milwaukee 60-36 in the paint, nearly doubling its production inside. OKC shot 11.1% better in the paint. 

Even in what could be considered an off-night for Gilgeous-Alexander, he still made six of his paint attempts. All 11 of Hartenstein’s makes came inside the arc, with a mix of dump-down dunks, alley-oops and push shots. 

Strip Milwaukee of Antetokounmpo’s attempts, and it shot just 46.2% inside. 

Thunder regular-season dominance continues

Sunday’s win advanced the Thunder to 24-1 in the East.

Zoom in, and OKC went 7-1 in its past eight games, arguably the toughest stretch of its season.

With yet another double-digit win, OKC is now two wins away from the most double-digit wins in a season in franchise history. 

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