So much for that 1-6 start.
The Milwaukee Bucks are now your NBA Cup champions. The Bucks faced a Thunder team pegged by many as NBA title favorites and secured a one-sided 97-81 win Tuesday night in the NBA Cup championship game in Las Vegas.
The victory capped a 7-0 Bucks run in NBA Cup play that reasserted their stance as contenders in the Eastern Conference. Milwaukee has now won 14 out of 20 games since its slow start and improved to 14-11 to get back on the right side of the Eastern Conference standings.
Tuesday’s win doesn’t count in the standings. But it certainly matters in Milwaukee for a Bucks team that was written off as pretenders early in the season.
The Bucks won Tuesday night thanks to physical play from Giannis Antetokounmpo, strong shooting from Damian Lillard and a dominant defense that stifled Oklahoma City shooters. Lillard and Antetokounmpo played like their All-Star selves, while the Thunder had one of their worst shooting nights of the season.
Oklahoma City shot 33.7% from the field and was dreadful from long distance on a 5-of-32 effort (15.6%) from beyond the arc. There will be better nights from this talented Thunder roster. But Tuesday belonged to the Bucks.
The first half was anything but a blowout. Oklahoma City opened up a 28-27 first-quarter lead that Milwaukee countered in the second quarter to take a 51-50 edge into halftime of what was shaping up to be a thriller.
But the Bucks opened up the third quarter with back-to-back 3s from Taurean Prince and Lillard and didn’t look back.
The Bucks seized control of the game with a 26-14 third-quarter advantage and didn’t let off the gas in the fourth. As Milwaukee’s shooters rained down 3s, Oklahoma City’s clanged shot after shot off the iron. Meanwhile, Antetokounmpo took advantage whenever he found a mismatch in the post, which was often.
By the time the clock ticked under two minutes, Bucks fans in Las Vegas were celebrating. There was plenty of reason to celebrate on the Milwaukee bench as well. As winners of the NBA Cup, each Bucks player secured a roughly $515,000 bonus.
It wasn’t so bad for Thunder players, who secured roughly $216,000 each as runners-up. But the high-profile loss will surely sting for a young team looking to assert itself as a contender.
Antetokounmpo led the way for Milwaukee with a 26-point, 19-rebound, 10-assist triple-double. He added three blocks and two steals while shooting 10 of 19 from the field. Lillard tallied 23 points, four rebounds and four assists while shooting 5 of 10 from 3-point distance.
The NBA’s third-best 3-point shooting team (38.9%), the Bucks were strong from beyond the arc as a whole on 17-of-40 (42.5%) from long distance. Milwaukee secured a 43-36 advantage on the boards and assisted on 25 of its 34 made field goals.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the high scorer for Oklahoma City with 21 points, four rebounds and two assists. But he shot 8 of 24 from the floor and 2 of 9 from 3 in an effort that summed up the Thunder’s shooting night.
Isaiah Hartenstein was the only Thunder player to shoot 50% or better from the field on a 6-of-11 effort that produced 16 points and 12 rebounds. Jalen Williams shot 8 of 20 en route to 18 points.
It was a dominant effort on both sides of the ball for the Bucks — the type to renew championship hopes that looked lost in the first month of the season.
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