Milwaukee Bucks vs. Oklahoma City Thunder Preseason Preview & Game Thread: Baby steps

The Milwaukee Bucks play the Oklahoma City Thunder for game two of their preseason campaign tonight. The Bucks fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a disappointing first outing where their lacklustre defence was put on full display, especially in transition. That said, the game also included some real positive flashes from Brayden Burries and Nate Ament, along with solid performances from Ryan Rollins and Kel’el Ware. Sure, the game was nothing to write home about—which is why I am writing all of you instead—but it could have been a lot worse. Jenkins may still be in the phase of throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks tonight, but here’s to hoping we see this team start to find more of its footing.

The Task Ahead

Though not nearly the off-season shake-up that Milwaukee endured, Oklahoma City enters this year with some familiar faces gone: Isaiah Joe, Andrew Wiggins, and perhaps most notably, Lu Dort. This comes after falling in the Western Conference Finals to the San Antonio Spurs, so it stands to reason that this OKC team faces more questions than in previous years. Alex Caruso sensed this additional context and reassured reporters on Media Day that, “Fundamentally, we are still the Oklahoma City Thunder.”

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While nobody can deny that the Thunder are still the benchmark, questions are warranted. To many fans, Dort felt like a key piece of their core—what do they look like without him? Between Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace, the Thunder certainly aren’t lacking on the wing, but Dort’s switchability is hard to replace. Of course, they may start the season 24-1 again and make everyone forget these questions, but regardless, the personnel change will be a storyline worth tracking for the Thunder all season long.

Even so, don’t expect many answers against the rebuilding Milwaukee Bucks, especially since there is no real guarantee we will see many, if any, of Oklahoma City’s starters. This will be their second night of a back-to-back, and despite resting many starters last night, OKC may still take a conservative approach, given they expect to be playing into June. Nevertheless, I am…

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Publish date : 2026-10-07 13:00:00

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