LAS VEGAS — There were skeptics.
Sure, Milwaukee had won 10-of-12 and had a top-10 offense and defense in its last 15, but not everyone was buying in after witnessing an ugly 2-8 start to the season. Much of the Bucks’ turnaround came with wins against lottery-bound teams, the Bucks lacked a signature win.
They have one now.
Even if it doesn’t count in the standings.
The Milwaukee Bucks have won the NBA Cup. In the second half, they pulled away from an ice-cold shooting Oklahoma City team to win 97-81.
“I think it just showed what we’ve been building,” Damian Lillard said. “I think it all came out in our biggest game to this point… from the film room to practice, to us becoming a more connected team and trust on both sides of the ball. I feel like it just, it shined bright at a really important game for us.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo put together a 26-point triple-double that undersells how much he impacted this game on both sides of the ball. He controlled this game. With that, Antetokounmpo was named NBA Cup MVP.
The win really meant something to Lillard — beyond the half-a-million in bonus money going to each of the Bucks for the win — because, for all his accolades in the league, he’s never been on a team that won anything like this.
“I’ve had a lot of experience individually, where I’ve had accomplishments and stuff,” Lillard said. “But to have some, some team success and win something to be the last team standing in this tournament. It feels great.”
The stat that defined this game: Oklahoma City shot 5-of-32 (15.6%) on 3-pointers.
That mattered because OKC leads the NBA in drives per game, and the Milwaukee defense relies on drop coverage, which uses the length and size of Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez to clog the lane and take away shots at the rim. The Thunder drove, drew in the defense, kicked out to open shooters, and… clanked shots off the rim they usually make.
Milwaukee deserves some credit for the Thunder’s cold shooting night, especially how they kept Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams in check after the first quarter. That duo was a combined 5-of-14 from the midrange in the final three quarters, an area of the court that both tend to thrive. The Bucks Andre Jackson Jr. played well, slowing Gilgeous-Alexander.
“When you’re playing a good team, you gotta continually generate good looks and also make shots,” Williams said. “And I feel like that was just, it was one of those nights.”
Maybe this was just one of those nights, but the Thunder leave this game with the same question we had about them after they fell to Dallas in a playoff series last May: In a tight game played in the half court, can this team score enough to win big games?
Oklahoma City cannot answer this question until April and May, but the early returns from Las Vegas in December were not promising.
Things started out well for the Thunder, shooting 8-of-10 to open the game, while Bucks starters who are not Greek started 1-of-5 from the floor, resulting in a quick seven-point Thunder lead. But then the Bucks went on an 8-0 run and it was a game again, with Milwaukee taking the lead on a Lillard 3. The rest of the first half was tight: The Thunder led 28-27 after one quarter, the Bucks were up 51-50 at the half. It was a physical, defensive first half.
The key stat in the first half: Oklahoma City was 1-of-17 from 3, while Milwaukee’s role players stepped up and the team was 7-of-18 from 3. Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 14 at the half.
The game got intense with 9:12 left in the third when a loose ball on the ground led to Lu Dort diving on the floor for it, Antetokounmpo diving on top of him, and Lopez getting in the mix before the referee finally called a jump ball between 6’4″ Dort and 7’1″ Lopez.
Dort was pissed and picked up a technical for what he said to the officials (Dort had a point, Antetokounmpo could have been called for a foul in the scrum). Then Thunder coach Mark Daigneault picked up one for backing up Dort. Lillard hit the two technical free throws and then a 3-pointer off the jump ball, and Milwaukee was up 11.
After three quarters, the Bucks pushed that lead out to 13, 77-64. Nothing much changed for Oklahoma City, which has six turnovers while shooting 5-of-19 (26.3%) in the third.
In the fourth, Brook Lopez hit a couple of key 3s and the game just felt over.
It was, it never really got close again. The Thunder talked about learning lessons.
“There’s a size element to them, you really have to move them around. … These are informative games,” Daigneault said.
For the Bucks, it confirms what they already knew about themselves. Now, the world can see it.
