The Oklahoma City Thunder starting lineup over the last two games without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looked as good as one could reasonably hope. They lost by one point in overtime to the Los Angeles Lakers and then by two points to the Denver Nuggets.
After competitive performances, there didn’t appear to be need to change for the matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks. But head coach Mark Daigneault apparently does not prescribe to the “don’t fix what isn’t broken” mantra.
Forward Justin Jackson was inserted into the starting lineup in place of guard Hamidou Diallo on Sunday night, and Daigneault’s decision looked ingenious by the end of the game.
Jackson made three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, including a contested 27-foot dagger with 15 seconds left to ice the game and give the Thunder a 114-109 victory over one of the best teams in the league.
“We’ve been in so many tough battles recently and for Justin to step up and take that one, if we were to have fans in here, the building would have went down,” said center Al Horford.
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JJ’s smiling dagger at the end. #ThunderUp | @JJacks_44 pic.twitter.com/851FWJYJuf— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 15, 2021
“There should be a shoutout to (Darius Bazley), the fact that he caught that ball from not going out of bounds,” Jackson said.
“I was just spaced, Lu (Dort) tried to go in there and make a play, he kicked it to Baze — like I said he made an amazing catch. … I saw the shot clock kind of running down so just I tried to step into it and knock it down.”
Jackson finished with 22 points, a team-high, and made all four of the 3-pointers he attempted. He also had five assists, three rebounds and three steals in his second start for the Thunder and his first since Dec. 29.
“In this particular stretch, with having the guys out that we do, we’re trying to look at this as an opportunity to try to discover different things with the team even tactically and also personnel-wise,” Daigneault said.
To beat the Bucks, Oklahoma City followed the lead of its last seven games: It led at halftime.
When Milwaukee scored 13 of the first 16 points of the game, Daigneault called a timeout to refocus the team while emphasizing ball movement. The Thunder answered his call with a 14-0 run to take the lead.
“It was looking like it was going to be a long night, and I felt like at that point we just regrouped,” Horford said.
The Thunder maintained their lead through the first half with stingy defense, limiting the Bucks to just seven made field goals in the second quarter and a season-low of 41 points at the half. OKC pushed its lead to double-digits in the closing minute as Bazley stole a pass and streaked downcourt to get the dunk in transition.
In the second half, though, the Thunder suffered a similar fate it has in their recent games. They struggled.
Milwaukee poured in 40 points in the third quarter, essentially doubling their score and tying it going into the final frame. The Thunder were showing the same issues that haunted them in the last games without Gilgeous-Alexander, a player who can take the ball and create a scoring play for himself consistently.
Oklahoma City pushed the lead back up to eight over the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, but sloppy play made it look like their stretch was coming to an end. Lu Dort turned the ball over, which led to a Donte DiVincenzo 3-pointer. Jackson’s floater was swatted by Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the two-time MVP scored on the other end to cut it to one possession. Dort then threw the ball out of bounds.
Jackson ended that poor stretch with a 3-pointer.
When the Bucks pulled close again, Dort hit three of his four late free throws to extend the lead to four. Antetokounmpo made another tip shot, but Jackson hit his dagger to put the game away.
All five Thunder starters scored double-digit points. Jackson had 22, and Al Horford posted a line of 20 points, seven rebounds and an assist total of nine that Daigneault called “crazy.”
Hamidou Diallo’s six points off the bench ended his 12-game streak of double-digit points.
Together, the team overcame Antetokounmpo’s triple-double of 24 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists, Khris Middleton’s 23 points and that early 13-3 deficit that could have spelled early ruin.
“We weren’t terrible in the first few minutes, but against a team that good, you can’t be average or above-average. You have to be great,” Daigneault said. “For the rest of the game, our execution was great.”