Oklahoma City lost in historic fashion to the Milwaukee Bucks, 133-86, on Friday night.
Here are three takeaways and not surprisingly, there are not a lot of positives to come out of the 47-point loss.
Hamidou Diallo didn’t do much with his playing time
Since Terrance Ferguson returned from his extended absence at the beginning of February, Hamidou Diallo has found himself on the outside of the rotation looking in.
Part of that is due to the rise of Thunder rookie, Lu Dort, who has taken over Ferguson’s spot in the starting lineup. But Diallo hasn’t exactly done much with the minutes that he’s been given.
With Danilo Gallinari sidelined due to left ankle soreness on Friday night, Billy Donovan gave Diallo got the starting nod.
He promptly picked up three fouls in the first four minutes and had to sit the rest of the half. To be fair, Diallo was tasked with guarding reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, and that’s a tough assignment for anybody.
Upon returning in the third quarter, he was issued his fourth personal on a loose ball foul less than three minutes into the second half.
Friday was the most time that Diallo has played in a month. He ended the game with 21 minutes of court time, scoring just four points on 2-of-7 shooting.
Yes, Diallo has dealt with injuries himself this season, and yes, the Bucks are the best team in the NBA, but it’s hard to determine what his role will be moving forward with limited minutes and minimal production.
On the wrong side of history
Friday night’s 47-point loss was the worst in franchise history.
The worst loss for the Oklahoma Thunder before that? A 42-point beat down by the Minnesota Timberwolves in January 2009.
Worst losses in Thunder history:
47 points: at Milwaukee, 2/28/20
42 points: at Minnesota, 1/7/09
39 points: at San Antonio, 3/25/15
35 points: vs. Portland, 4/3/09
35 points: at Cleveland, 11/26/08— Joe Mussatto (@joe_mussatto) February 29, 2020
In that game, a 129-87 loss in Minneapolis, Russell Westbrook was the only player for OKC in double figures with 12.
Oklahoma City’s record after that game was 5-31.
OKC was ice cold from beyond the arc
The temperature in Milwaukee was just above freezing on Friday night. But inside Fiserv Forum, things for the Thunder were downright frigid from 3-point land.
Oklahoma City shot just 17.1% from beyond the arc, hitting on just six of their 35 3-point attempts.
In comparison to the rest of the team, who combined for go 4-of-29 (13.7%), Mike Muscala was on fire, making 2-of-6 from range.
Meanwhile, Milwaukee made 21-of-45 from 3, including knocking down eight in the third quarter alone. As a team, the Bucks shot 46.7% beyond the arc.