MILWAUKEE — Shooting guard O.J. Mayo scored 19 points, point guard Brandon Knight had 16 and forward Giannis Antetokounmpo added 14 as the Milwaukee Bucks won consecutive games for the first time since March 17-19, 2013, with a 85-78 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
Antetokounmpo set a career high with 18 his last time out and didn’t miss a beat Tuesday, hitting 6 of 13 attempts from the field and pulled down eight rebounds with two blocked shots.
Backup center Zaza Pachulia had his best night of the season, scoring eight points with 10 rebounds, four assists and a block in 22 minutes of work.
Oklahoma City got a game-best 29 points from point guard Reggie Jackson. Jackson hit 12 of 21 attempts from the field and made two of six 3-pointers, but the Thunder shot just 33 percent as a team and was 6-for-19 on 3-point attempts.
Antetokounmpo, Knight and Pachulia each had six points in the first half as Milwaukee shot 46 percent from the field to take a 41-38 lead. Oklahoma City went up 53-50 on forward Lance Thomas’ jumper with 6:50 left in the third.
Mayo answered with seven points during a 10-3 spurt that put the Bucks up four with four minutes left in the half and they extended that to as many as 11 points midway through the final quarter.
The Thunder closed to within four in the final minute, Knight hit both free throws with 15 seconds left to close it out.
Oklahoma City dropped to 0-5 on the road this season.
NOTES: With eight players out due to injury this season, the Thunder got a boost Tuesday with the return of G Anthony Morrow, who had not played this season while recovering from a strained left MCL. Head coach Scott Brooks said Morrow would play between 10-17 minutes against the Bucks. … Bucks F Giannis Antetokounmpo has reached double-digit scoring in four of his seven games this season. … Milwaukee’s 9.9 steals per game represent the third-highest mark in the NBA this season. … The Thunder began the day 0-4 on the road this season. … The Bucks announced shortly before tipoff that F Khris Middleton would dress but wasn’t likely to play because of a sore right knee. … Milwaukee had dropped five in a row to the Thunder before Tuesday.