By Jimmy Carlton Sportswriter Published Apr 04, 2017 at 2:52 PM

The Milwaukee Bucks begin a three-game, late-campaign road trip tonight in Oklahoma City, where they’ll face the Thunder on national television (7 p.m. on ESPN). And the marquee matchup contains some compelling storylines that make it quite a bit more captivating than your average regular-season contest.

Besides the nightly intrigue of seeing if Russell Westbrook succeeds in slam dunking the basketball through the Earth’s crust, there are a few other fun reasons to tune in, not even including the fact that March Madness just ended and you want to stave off your hoops-high hangover for as long as possible.

OK, enough stalling and let’s get to it. This is a big game that Bucks fans need to watch. Here’s why:

1. Playoff potential

If the Bucks win Tuesday night against Oklahoma City, and both Indiana and Charlotte lose, they will clinch a playoff spot. Milwaukee is currently holding the fifth seed in the East, one game ahead of Atlanta. But only three games separate the Bucks (40-37) from fifth place and being out of the postseason, which is where the Pacers are now right now (37-40). Milwaukee travels to Indiana on Thursday, and the Pacers will be amped up like "Hoosiers" to win that night and gain ground in the tightly packed playoff race.

With five games remaining and a magic number of two to secure a spot, tonight isn’t a must-win for the Bucks. Still, with three straight games on the road and four of those last five against teams in contention, nothing is guaranteed. Milwaukee has been playing its finest basketball of the season recently, having gone an Eastern Conference-best 14-4 in March, despite a disappointing loss to Dallas on Sunday. The Thunder, meanwhile, have lost back-to-back games and three of their last five, falling to No. 6 in the West.

The Pacers are at home Tuesday night against the third-seeded Raptors on Tuesday, while the Hornets are on the road to face the No. 4 Wizards. The possibility exists that the Bucks tonight could earn a return to the postseason for the first time since 2015, when they lost in six games to the Bulls in the first round.

2. Triple-doubles

All season, Westbrook has demonstrated that he is a god-damned maniac, and we mean that in the nicest possible way, Russ, please don’t revenge these words. The hyper-motivated point guard, spurned in the offseason by Kevin Durant, has singlehandedly pulled the Thunder to the playoffs, putting up a league-high 31.9 points, 10.6 rebounds and 10.4 assists per game. He is almost assured of averaging a triple-double for the season – something that hasn’t been done since Oscar Robertson in 1961-62, which was the only time in history – needing only 11 rebounds and 29 assists to guarantee the conspicuous (and unendingly headline-grabbing) feat.

In addition, Westbrook has 40 triple-double games, one shy of Robertson’s mark – also set in 1961-62 – for triple doubles in a season. If he gets one against Milwaukee, he’ll tie the former Buck’s record ("The Big O" was with the Cincinnati Royals when he did it), as well as tie Wilt Chamberlain for fourth all-time with 77 career triple-doubles. Robertson is the leader with 181, Magic Johnson ranks second with 138 and Bucks coach Jason Kidd is third with 107.

Kidd was asked about facing Westbrook, who is currently on a run of six straight triple-doubles.

"You’ve got to be ready. He’s going to keep coming; he’s going to have the ball 98 percent of the time; he’s going to make plays; he’s going to make shots. You just try to make it as tough as possible," Kidd said, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "He’s playing at an incredible pace and, as a basketball fan, it’s kind of cool to watch."

In the only other meeting this year between the Bucks and Thunder, Westbrook scored 30 points, but Milwaukee held him to only seven rebounds and six assists in a 98-94 win. Oklahoma City is 31-9 when Westbrook has a triple-double and just 12-24 when he does not. So tune in to cheer for Milwaukee preventing Westbrook from getting one, since not only would that avoid the ignominy of him tying a former Bucks great’s record against that franchise, but also because the Oklahoma City usually loses when he’s triple-double-less.

3. Giannis vs. Russ

Westbrook isn’t the only reason ESPN gobbled up this game for its national broadcast. There is a very high probability that, at some point – or perhaps very often, depending on how frequently the Thunder guard goes into total "I got this" solo mode – Westbrook and Giannis Antetokounmpo will be up against each other.

As two of the most unique, athletic and exciting players in the NBA, this will be an incredible individual matchup, the fierce, tightly coiled 6-foot-3 ball of zooming chaotic energy against the smooth, gracefully soaring and emphatically slamming 6-11 Greek Freak. OMG I hope they guard each other all night.

Antetokounmpo on Monday was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month after averaging 22.4 points (on 51.4 percent field-goal shooting), 8.4 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.4 steals per game during March. It was the Bucks’ first player of the month award since Michael Redd won it in 2004. Then, in his first game in April, Antetokounmpo posted 31 points, 15 rebounds, nine assists, four steals and two blocks in the loss to the Mavericks. Giannis is feeling himself, knows he’s the key to Milwaukee’s playoff hopes and always gets up for high-profile games, especially against opposing superstars.

Plus, remember this kid – after Antetokounmpo blocked Westbrook – from the teams’ Jan. 2 game at the BMO Harris Bradley Center? You know he wants to see these two battle each other again and again and again.

Tuesday night is the Bucks’ last national TV broadcast game of the season – that is, until the playoffs.

Jimmy Carlton Sportswriter

Born in Milwaukee but a product of Shorewood High School (go ‘Hounds!) and Northwestern University (go ‘Cats!), Jimmy never knew the schoolboy bliss of cheering for a winning football, basketball or baseball team. So he ditched being a fan in order to cover sports professionally - occasionally objectively, always passionately. He's lived in Chicago, New York and Dallas, but now resides again in his beloved Brew City and is an ardent attacker of the notorious Milwaukee Inferiority Complex.

After interning at print publications like Birds and Blooms (official motto: "America's #1 backyard birding and gardening magazine!"), Sports Illustrated (unofficial motto: "Subscribe and save up to 90% off the cover price!") and The Dallas Morning News (a newspaper!), Jimmy worked for web outlets like CBSSports.com, where he was a Packers beat reporter, and FOX Sports Wisconsin, where he managed digital content. He's a proponent and frequent user of em dashes, parenthetical asides, descriptive appositives and, really, anything that makes his sentences longer and more needlessly complex.

Jimmy appreciates references to late '90s Brewers and Bucks players and is the curator of the unofficial John Jaha Hall of Fame. He also enjoys running, biking and soccer, but isn't too annoying about them. He writes about sports - both mainstream and unconventional - and non-sports, including history, music, food, art and even golf (just kidding!), and welcomes reader suggestions for off-the-beaten-path story ideas.