Los Angeles, USA – Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks silenced the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second half to win the second edition of the NBA Cup with a 97-81 victory in Las Vegas on Tuesday.
Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Antetokounmpo delivered a triple-double of 26 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists along with two steals and three blocked shots for the Bucks, who drilled 17 three-pointers to complete an unbeaten run and follow in the footsteps of the Los Angeles Lakers as in-season tournament champions.
Damian Lillard scored 23 points for the Bucks, who held the potentially explosive Thunder offense to 31 points in the second half.
“That’s who we are,” Antetokounmpo said of the Bucks’ second-half dominance, which saw them push a one-point lead at halftime to as many as 20.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 21 points, but he connected on just eight of his 24 shots from the field, two of nine from three-point range.
The triumph was a vindication for the Bucks, who were stung by the Indiana Pacers in last year’s Cup semi-finals.
They were the only team from last season’s semis to make it back to the final four in Vegas, beating the Orlando Magic in the quarter-finals and dispatching Atlanta in the semis.
Their Cup success has been part of a massive turnaround after a dismal 2-8 start to the season.
They have now won 13 of their last 16 games, and Antetokounmpo, who led the Bucks to the 2021 NBA title, indicated he considered it only a stepping stone.
“It’s great for our team,” said Antetokounmpo, who was named MVP of the tournament. “The last 15 games we’ve played, we’ve competed. We’ve played team basketball.
“I’m so proud of this group,” he added. “Coming out of halftime we know we have 24 minutes to go, we came out in the third quarter, we set the tone. We played great team basketball.”
– ‘Not done’ –
The Bucks held the Thunder to just 14 points in the third quarter — their lowest points total in a period this season.
“Most importantly we are competing defensively,” Antetokounmpo said. “That’s who we are. That’s who we’re going to continue to be — and the job’s not done.”
Unlike the rest of the Cup matches, the final does not count toward the regular-season record, nor do the players’ performances count in their career stats.
But the trophy does come with a financial reward with each player on the winning team set to pocket more than $514,971 — a significant chunk of money for the younger players and lesser lights on the team.
Thunder players will take home $205,988 a piece for the runner-up finish. But they will head back to Oklahoma City disappointed with one of their worst shooting performances of the season.
“We didn’t shoot it well tonight,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It’s not really an excuse. There was definitely controllables tonight we could have taken care of and we didn’t do so, and that’s why the score looked the way it does.
“We’ve shot bad and won games before.”
The Western Conference leaders — who went 3-1 in group play before beating Dallas in the quarter-finals and Houston in the semis — connected on just 33.7 percent of their shots from the field and made just five of 32 — 15.6 percent — from three-point range.
They had emerged from a fast-paced first quarter with a 28-27 lead.
The nip-and-tuck continued in the second quarter and the tension was evident when Milwaukee’s Andre Jackson Jr and Oklahoma City’s Isaiah Hartenstein received matching technicals after a heated exchange.
After a first half that featured nine lead changes the Bucks led 51-50, but Milwaukee opened the third with back-to-back three-pointers from Taurean Prince and Lillard and began to roll.