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The second Emirates NBA Cup ever goes to Las Vegas, with the semi-finals scheduled for Saturday.

One game pits the top two teams in the Western Conference (until Wednesday), while the other pits the sixth- and seventh-place teams in the East. But no matter where they stand overall, all four made it to Vegas and have a chance to win the NBA Cup.

OffRtg: Points scored per 100 ball possessions (league rank)
DefRtg: Points allowed per 100 possessions (League Rank)
NetRtg: Point difference per 100 possessions (league rank)
Tempo: Ball possession per 48 minutes (league rank)

Here are some numbers you should know about each of the semifinalists.

(All statistics are valid through December 11th.)

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East 1. Milwaukee Bucks (13-11 overall, 5-0 in NBA Cup)

OffRtg: 114.0 (10) DefRtg: 112.9 (14) NetRtg: +1.1 (15) Tempo: 99.0 (16)

After a 2-8 start, the Bucks have won 11 of their last 14 games. They are the only undefeated team in the 2024 competition And the only team to reach the NBA Cup semifinals in both years.

1. Giannis Antetokounmpo has averaged 18.9 points per game in restricted areas.

That would be the most for a player in the 29 seasons for which we have play-by-play data, surpassing Antetokounmpo’s record of 18.1 ppg in restricted action last season. As a team, the Bucks are averaging just 33 ppg in restricted areas, leaving Antetokounmpo accounting for 57% of that.

2. Khris Middleton has 13 assists for Antetokounmpo.

That’s not a lot, but Middleton and Antetokounmpo have only played 61 minutes together. That’s a combined total of 7.7 assists per 36 minutes on the field, more than double the rate at which any other teammate assisted the league’s leading scorer. Middleton has already given Antetokounmpo as many assists as Taurean Prince, who has played 445 more minutes alongside him. No one feeds the two-time Kia MVP like the player who has been his teammate throughout his career.

Most assists for Giannis Antetokounmpo, 2024-25

MIN = Minutes on floor with Antetokounmpo
Per 36 = Assists per 36 minutes on the floor combined

3. The Bucks scored just 21.1% of their total points on fast breaks (11.5%, fourth lowest) or second chances (9.6%, second lowest).

That is the lowest rate in the league. Despite having arguably the league’s best weapon in transition, the Bucks are a half-court offensive team. Only the Wolves made a lower percentage of their shots in the first six seconds of the shot clock (according to Second Spectrum Tracking). Because their centers primarily make jump shots, the Bucks rank last in offensive rebound percentage and therefore don’t give themselves many second chances.

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East 3. Atlanta Hawks (14-12, 4-1 in NBA Cup)

OffRtg: 111.3 (20) DefRtg: 113.8 (18) NetRtg: -2.5 (18) Tempo: 104.4 (3)

The Hawks have five losses against the Wizards, Bulls and Blazers, but also six wins against the Cavs (x2), Celtics, Knicks (x2) and Bucks.

1. The Hawks are one of three teams with a winning record and a negative point differential.

They are 0-4 in games decided by 20 or more points, but are 8-4 in games decided by single-digit points. And they have won their last four games in which they were within five points in the final five minutes and scored 64 points on 49 possessions. Trae Young leads the league in clutch assists (17) and clutch free throws (25 for 28).

2. Dyson Daniels averaged 6.3 deflections per game and 6.7 deflections per 36 minutes.

Those would be the highest rates in the nine seasons in which discrepancies were tracked, with the number per game being 1.9 higher than any other player on average. In his third season and just 21 years old, Daniels is a defensive threat who will likely be tasked with defending Damian Lillard on Saturday. He’s a big reason the Hawks held Milwaukee to just one point per possession in their first meeting last week (one of the Bucks’ four worst offensive performances this season).

3. The Hawks are the only team with a better record when trailing at halftime (7-6) than when leading at half (6-6).

They trailed by seven (and trailed by as many as 12) at halftime in New York on Wednesday, but the Hawks are the team for whom the halftime score meant the least. They have the most losses (11-6) in games in which they have a double-digit lead and have the most wins (7-10) in games in which they have a double-digit lead dragged in the double-digit range.

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West 1. Oklahoma City Thunder (19-5, 4-1 in NBA Cup)

OffRtg: 115.4 (8) DefRtg: 103.4 (1) NetRtg: +12.0 (1) Tempo: 100.4 (10)

The Thunder are the best team in the Western Conference and lead the league in point differential (plus 12 points per game) by a significant margin.

1. The Thunder have allowed 9.2 fewer points per 100 possessions than the league average (112.6).

That would be the largest difference in the 29 seasons for which we have play-by-play data, surpassing the 2003-04 San Antonio Spurs mark (8.3 less than average). The Thunder played a relatively easy schedule in terms of opposing offenses, playing four more games against teams ranked in the bottom ten (nine) than in the top ten (five) on that end of the floor. But their win over the fourth-ranked Mavs on Tuesday was Dallas’ worst offensive performance of the season (104 points on 100 possessions). Statistically, they are the best defensive team of the play-by-play era.

2. The Thunder committed 7.4 fewer turnovers per game than their opponent.

This is by far the best margin of any team in the 48 seasons in which turnovers were counted. The next best difference this season is 2.9 fewer per game (Philadelphia). The Thunder lead the league in both turnover rate (11.7 per 100 possessions) and opponent turnover rate (19.1 per 100), the latter being the highest opponent rate of any team in the last 26 seasons.

Best sales differential since 1977-78

3. They are one of four teams ranked in the bottom 10 in both offensive and defensive rebounding rates.

Rebounding continues to be an issue, although Isaiah Hartenstein has helped with that. Oklahoma City grabbed 52.4% of available rebounds with Hartenstein on the field and just 46.3% of available boards with him on the floor. The team secured 79.5% of the available funds defensive boards against Dallas on Tuesday, up from 55.3% in the loss to the Mavs (without Hartenstein) a few weeks earlier.

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West 2. Houston Rockets (17-8, 4-1 in NBA Cup)

OffRtg: 111.9 (15) DefRtg: 105.1 (2) NetRtg: +6.8 (5) Tempo: 99.5 (14)

For the second straight year, the Rockets are one of the most improved teams in the league.

1. The Rockets have allowed 7.7 fewer points per 100 possessions than last season (112.8, 10).

This makes them the most improved defensive team in the league. But they were also the most improved defensive team last season, allowing 5.8 per 100 fewer than the 2022-23 season. In two seasons under coach Ime Udoka, they have improved from 29th to 10th to second in defensive efficiency. This season, they posted the second-largest decline in opponents’ field goal percentage (leading the league at 52.1%) and the third-largest decline in opponents’ free throw percentage.

2. They averaged 5.5 more shot opportunities (field goal attempts or trips to the line) than their opponents.

That’s the biggest difference in the league. While the Rockets don’t have nearly the turnover differential as the Thunder (they rank sixth with 1.9 fewer turnovers per game than their opponent), they lead the league in rebounding percentage and have captured 3.2 more offensive boards per game than their opponents. The Rockets are the opposite of the Bucks, ranking first in the percentage of their points (31.1%) that come from fastbreaks (15.8%, second) or second chances (15.2%, second). come from. They do it in different ways, but both West semifinalists thrive on winning the possession game.

3. According to Second Spectrum tracking, the Rockets are averaging just 295 passes per 24 minutes of possession.

That’s last place in the league. The Rockets have balanced scoring, with seven players averaging between 11.2 and 19.2 ppg, but that isn’t due to much ball movement. They rank last in assist rate (54.5% of field goals assisted), with their top three scorers – Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun and Fred VanVleet – all receiving assists on less than half of their shots.

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John Schuhmann is a senior statistical analyst for NBA.com. You can email him here, his archive can be found here and Follow him on X.

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