That’s it for this 1-6 start.
The Milwaukee Bucks are now your NBA Cup champions. The Bucks faced a Thunder team considered by many to be favorites for the NBA title and earned a one-sided 97-81 victory Tuesday night in the NBA Cup championship game in Las Vegas.
The victory capped a 7-0 run for the Bucks in the NBA Cup that reaffirmed their position as contenders in the Eastern Conference. Milwaukee has now won 14 of 20 games since its slow start and improved to 14-11 to return to the right side of the Eastern Conference standings.
Tuesday’s victory does not count in the standings. But it certainly matters in Milwaukee for a Bucks team that was considered a contender early in the season.
The Bucks won Tuesday night, thanks to Giannis Antetokounmpo’s physical play, Damian Lillard’s strong shooting and a dominant defense that stifled Oklahoma City’s 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 terrible from long range on a 5-of-32 (15.6%) effort from beyond the arc. There will be better nights from this talented Thunder team. But Tuesday belonged to the Bucks.
The first half was anything but a blast. Oklahoma City opened a 28-27 lead in the first quarter that Milwaukee countered in the second quarter to take a 51-50 advantage at halftime in what was shaping up to be a thriller.
But the Bucks opened the third quarter with back-to-back 3s from Taurean Prince and Lillard and didn’t look back.
The Bucks took control with a 26-14 advantage in the third quarter and didn’t let off the gas in the fourth. While Milwaukee’s shooters rained down 3s, Oklahoma City’s shots echoed off the iron. Meanwhile, Antetokounmpo took advantage whenever he found a mismatch at the position, which happened often.
As the clock ticked down to less than two minutes, Bucks fans in Las Vegas were celebrating. There were plenty of reasons to celebrate on the Milwaukee bench, too. As an NBA Cup winner, each Bucks player got a bonus of around $515,000.
It wasn’t so bad for the Thunder players, who got around $216,000 each as finalists. But this high-profile loss will surely sting a young team looking to establish itself as a contender.
Antetokounmpo led the way for Milwaukee with a triple-double of 26 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists. He added three blocks and two steals while shooting 10 of 19 from the field. Lillard had 23 points, four rebounds and four assists while shooting 5 of 10 from 3-point range.
The third-best 3-point shooting team in the NBA (38.9%), the Bucks were strong beyond the arc as a whole shooting 17 of 40 (42.5%) from long range. Milwaukee earned a 52-43 rebounding advantage and contributed to 25 of its 34 field goals.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City in scoring 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 percent 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 kind to renew championship hopes that seemed lost in the first month of the season.
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