With multiple stars out and an eye towards All-Star Break, let’s breakdown how the visiting Milwaukee Bucks were able to prevail over the home-standing Oklahoma City Thunder.

The last game before All-Star Break can have the vibes of the last class before winter break. Nevertheless, the ball still tips off and there is still a game to be won.

The Milwaukee Bucks took heed to that. Despite this being the second game of back-to-back, and their third game in four days, MKE eschewed any concerns of rust and ran off with the 110-93 victory on Thursday night. The Bucks led for almost the entire game, and held Oklahoma City to its lowest point total of the season.

Both teams competed without their big stars. Milwaukee were missing Giannis Antetokounmpo, Myles Turner (a late scratch, according to the Amazon broadcas team), and Ryan Rollins. Meanwhile, the Thunder were sans Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Ajay Mitchell.

When that much firepower is missing, that usually calls for teams to get more egalitarian with their offense and more focused and aggressive on the defensive end. Move the ball around to find the best shots, hunker down on defense, and crash those boards! Both teams came into Thursday looking to do that, but Milwaukee turned out to be so much better at it be the final buzzer.

Ultimately, this game felt like it came down to a shot creation gap. Even with the major injuries, the Bucks were still equipped with a number of willing shot creators. Kyle Kuzma, Kevin Porter, Ousmane Dieng, and Cam Thomas (of course!) are all capable of getting shots up off the dribble.

Conversely, Jared McCain was the lone active player that has a consistent pull-up game in his arsenal. The remaining players are moreso 3-and-D players that can put the ball on floor at times. Otherwise, Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams, and Mitchell are tasked with that job, but they were in street clothes on Thursday.

The shot creation gap also shows up in the “non-restricted area 2’s” department. The Bucks went 16-of-31 (51.6 percent) from that range, while the Thunder went 7-of-18 (38.9 percent). The Buck’s mid-range proficiency gave them a lot of gravity, allowing them to fluster the normally-potent Thunder defense and get plenty of good shots in the half-court. As a result, Milwaukee also won on the perimeter (40.5 percent to 33.3 percent), in the paint break (44-28), and on second chance points (19-12).

Ousmane Dieng led the Bucks with 19 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, and four blocks. It was a truly inspired performance from a player that was talented, but was unfortunately crowded out of the rotation for the championship squad. I’m sure he came into the game wanting to play well in front of his former home fans, and I’m sure a game like this even exceeded those expectations. Hopefully his new environs in the Cream City will be the opportunity he needs to show what he wasn’t able to on such a deep team.