The Thunder came into this game against the Milwaukee Bucks on a 4 game winning streak. It seemed as though the Thunder picked right back up from where they left off against the Pelicans. Paul George has been on another level as of late the way he’s been playing. Tonight was no different for Paul George aka PG-13 as he was able to put the Thunder on his back and lead them to the promised land. The Milwaukee Bucks came into this game on a 6 game winning streak and the Thunder weren’t fearing the deer at all. The way that Paul George was able to attack the opposition tonight was simply amazing. Paul George was on another planet tonight and rightfully so wearing his Nike PG3 “NASA” tonight. PG-13 was serving up the Bucks anyway they wanted it tonight whether it was from the 3 point line, mid-range, at the rim it didn’t matter. Paul George is averaging a career-best 27.1 PPG this season and doesn’t look to be slowing down anytime soon. The Bucks tried to stop him by putting multiple defenders on him and it didn’t go as planned tonight. When Paul George’s playing at this elite level there is nothing anyone can do about it in the league. The best part of Paul George’s game is the fact he plays within the game and lets the offense come to him and it’s not forced.
Another thing about George’s game is that he plays both ways and has proven to be one of the best two-way players in the NBA today. George lets his defense create his offense and still has enough in the tank to get his teammates the ball with his playmaking ability. Paul George was sensational tonight in OKC and was able to get the Thunder through a tough stretch in the game when the Bucks made it close at the end. There was a sequence where Paul George was able to get to the lane and was able to rise up to posterize Giannis Antetokounmpo and then the next possession he hit a huge 3 pointer over Malcolm Brogdon to seal the game. The whole night Paul George was getting showered with MVP chants from the crowd and deserved every single moment that came his way. Paul George finished with 36 points and 13 rebounds on the night. If Paul George wasn’t in the MVP discussion before tonight he’s definitely in the discussion now with this monster performance.
The Thunder as a unit was able to put multiple defenders on Giannis Antetokounmpo and made it tough on him all evening. Giannis was able to finish the game with 27 points but wasn’t able to get his first field goal until the second half. The Bucks were able to lean on Khris Middleton as he chipped in with 22 points to help bring things closer at the end. Overall Antetokounmpo was able to get to the rim whenever he wanted too on the night but with Grant/Noel’s length on him, it made things a lot tougher. The Bucks wanted to get Antetokounmpo going in that second half and it started working slowly but the Thunder already had him in foul trouble and were able to work through giving him open shots daring him to shoot them. The gameplan worked perfectly stopping Antetokounmpo and it helped that the Bucks missed a lot of contested shots on the evening as well. Russell Westbrook was able to notch another triple-double on the evening as he finished with 13 points, 11 assists, and 13 rebounds on the night. Westbrook wasn’t able to get things going offensively tonight but it didn’t really matter because the team played so amazing. The Thunder had 6 players in double figures on the night and played as a full team. Westbrook has been able to take the back seat to Paul George and that’s helped the Thunder be able to be in the position they’re in now. Both George and Westbrook have the Thunder looking like title contenders on the season and will take this team on the road as they attempt to come back 3-0 on this quick road trip. The Thunder have been great defensively and have shown that they can use defense to create their offense at any moment.
Photo Credit: Zach Beeker
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