Jason Kidd’s Milwaukee Bucks picked up a signature win Monday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Jason’s squad was sound defensively, and on the other end of the floor, they followed another outstanding night from Giannis Antetokounmpo, who turned in 26 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. But in the end, it was that defensive effort that sealed the hard-fought 98-94 victory.

“It was 48 minutes. We knew we were in for a fight,” Jason said after the victory. “Oklahoma is a very good team with a lot of talented players. For us, rebounding the ball was one of the keys for us late in that game. We were getting stops and offensively, we were able to capitalize. Guys were making the right plays.”

Oklahoma City Thunder v Milwaukee Bucks

The Bucks knew exactly what they were facing from OKC: an onslaught from the dynamic Russell Westbrook. The Thunder point guard tallied 30 points, seven rebounds and six assists, but thanks to a well-prepared Milwaukee defense, he was inefficient, shooting 9-of-28 (32 percent) from the floor.

“The whole night, we were trying to put bodies in front of him,” J-Kidd said. “No matter what, he’s going to come at you. That’s what he does. You just have to make it as tough as possible and hope he misses at the right time.”

Westbrook helped push the Thunder to a 14-point lead in the opening quarter, but the Bucks used tough buckets from Malcolm Brogdon and Greg Monroe to cut it back to eight by the end of the first period.

Early in the second, Giannis went on a personal 6-0 run to deflate the Thunder cushion to just four points. Jabari Parker, who finished with 19 points and six boards, chimed in to drop the OKC lead to two, but the visitors pushed it back to six, 56-50, at halftime.

In the third, the Bucks went to the 3-point game to claim the lead. Parker hit three times from beyond the arc, while Brogdon and Mirza Teletovic each added one, and the Bucks led 79-72 after three.

The Bucks had trouble finding their offense early in the fourth quarter. A Westbrook layup at the 5:56 mark put the Thunder back on top 88-86, but J-Kidd’s crew answered. Parker, Brogdon and Antetokounmpo each scored as part of a 6-0 run, capped by a jaw-dropping Giannis jam.

“You look at what he does on a consistent basis, and that’s what stars are measured on,” Jason said of Giannis. “You look at Russ, he has 30 points. Giannis isn’t just about scoring the ball. He’s about making winning plays. That’s what stars do in this league. You can see he’s growing. His confidence, his vision is getting better every time he takes the floor.”

The Thunder tied it back up twice more, but Milwaukee locked down on Westbrook and held the Thunder scoreless in the final 1:43 to take the four-point victory.

Brogdon knocked down two clutch free throws with eight seconds to go to ice the win. The rookie finished with 12 points. John Henson matched that output, scoring 12, while Greg Monroe led all bench scorers with 15.