The Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in this season’s NBA Cup final, and Giannis Antetokounmpo had a triple-double.
Last year, the mid-season tournament was introduced, with the Bucks becoming the second winners with a 97-81 triumph at the T-Mobile Arena. The semi-finals and final will be held in Las Vegas.
Antetokounmpo was selected the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after recording 26 points, 19 rebounds, and 10 assists.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 21 points but only shot eight for 24 in a poor shooting effort by the Western Conference leaders, while Damian Lillard contributed 23 points for the Bucks.
Milwaukee had a 51-50 lead at the half and a 77-64 advantage going into the fourth quarter. Brook Lopez made back-to-back three-pointers to increase the Milwaukee lead to 86-66.
“I’m so proud of the group,” explained Antetokounmpo, a two-time league MVP. “Everybody was extremely locked in.
“We came in, we were focused, played great basketball, and we were able to win. We had this goal as a team, and we accomplished it.”
Former Champions Continue Turnaround
With their win on Tuesday, the Bucks maintained their recent strong surge. The 2021 NBA champions had a 2-8 start to the season but have already won 13 of their last 16 games.
The Bucks are now seventh in the Eastern Conference with a record of 14-11; all NBA Cup games, with the exception of the final, are considered regular-season games.
“I wouldn’t say it completely flushes [the poor start] because we can’t get those games back,” explained Lillard.
“But we’ve shown the team we started the season as is not the team that we are now, and it was never who we truly were.”
For a young Thunder team that leads the Western Conference (20-5) with 18 points from Jalen Williams.
“It’s rare to have a feeling like this where it feels like the play-offs, and we’ll kind of take it and learn from it,” he explained.
“It’s a good opportunity for every team that’s in the cup, especially us being as young as we are, to simulate being in a different city for however long and kind of having a play-off feel to it. It’s definitely good practice.”
