One of my lasting memories from last year’s semifinals was Antetokounmpo processing his team’s loss to the Indiana Pacers in the postgame press conference. He made sure that this time only his opponents would feel this frustration.

Antetokounmpo averaged 31.7 points per game in this year’s knockout rounds and came within an assist of a triple-double in the semifinal win over the Atlanta Hawks before posting a triple-double against the Thunder.

More than those stellar stats, Antetokounmpo set the tone for his team with playoff-level defensive intensity. His block on Trae Young in the fourth quarter against Atlanta was the most memorable play of the knockout round. Against OKC, Antetokounmpo had three blocks and two steals. There was never any doubt who was the MVP in the Finals.

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Giannis: “The work isn’t done yet” after NBA Cup win

Giannis Antetokounmpo says the Bucks have their sights set on bigger goals after winning the NBA Cup.

All-NBA Cup team

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder

Damian Lillard, Milwaukee Bucks

Alperen Sengun, Houston Rockets

Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks

Antetokounmpo and Gilgeous-Alexander were locks, and so was Lillard. The Bucks had the worst double loss of any team and reached the knockout rounds. Antetokounmpo and Lillard combined to average nearly 60 points per game in the tournament and more than 16 assists per game.

Young led Atlanta’s run to the semifinals with 24.2 PPG and 10.8 APG, more than any other player in NBA Cup play.

The hardest part was picking a representative for the semifinalist Rockets. No Houston player averaged more than 20 PPG and Sengun wasn’t particularly efficient in NBA Cup games overall, but his 26 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and three steals against the Golden State Warriors in the quarterfinals were enough to give him the final spot.

NBA Cup Coach: Doc Rivers, Milwaukee Bucks

Milwaukee didn’t face an uphill battle until the Finals, benefiting from the Thunder’s poor shooting night there, but there’s no denying Rivers’ work during the Bucks’ undefeated streak. Milwaukee’s defense was a mess this time a year ago, falling to 22nd per possession after the Pacers torched them with 128 points in the semifinals.

This time the Bucks were well prepared despite playing the final without winger Khris Middleton due to illness. Milwaukee’s game plan of packing the paint and forcing Oklahoma City to win with jumpers was the right one, and the Bucks got a lot of credit for the Thunder’s 44 percent shooting rate from inside the arc.

Kudos also goes to Milwaukee assistant Darvin Ham, who led the Los Angeles Lakers to victory last year and has yet to lose an NBA Cup game.

Biggest coaching mistake: Erik Spoelstra, Miami Heat

Spoelstra is rightly considered one of the NBA’s best coaches, perhaps the best, but he wasn’t at his best in overtime of the Heat’s NBA Cup opener against the Detroit Pistons. After a Tyler Herro goal, Miami trailed by two with less than two seconds left in overtime and saw Cade Cunningham throw the ball to Jalen Duren for a dunk on an away situation.

Frustrated by the team’s poor execution, Spoelstra called a timeout, which Miami didn’t have left, allowing the Pistons to win on Malik Beasley’s technical free throw.

A win would have started Miami’s Cup campaign on the right foot and given the Heat a chance to advance to the final night of group play as either group winners or Eastern Conference wild cards.

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Spoelstra’s timeout error gives Pistons a win in OT

After Jalen Duren’s alley-oop tied the score, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra called a timeout, allowing the Pistons to take the lead with a technical foul free throw.

NBA Cup rookie: Jared McCain, Philadelphia 76ers

A truly astonishing statistic: heading into Tuesday’s final, all first-year players had scored a total of 14 points in six knockout round games. No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher started all six games as the Hawks reached the semifinals, but shot 2 of 19 from 3-point range and averaged 6.3 PPG. The Rookie of the Cup race looked very similar to the real race before McCain’s untimely knee injury.

In four NBA Cup group games, he averaged 24.8 points, which corresponds to 18 3-point shots at a rate of 51%. That put him ahead of Dalton Knecht of the Los Angeles Lakers, who also made 18 three-pointers (54.5% shooting percentage) but wasn’t quite as productive inside the arc, averaging 19.5 PPG.

Most Improved Team: Atlanta Hawks

Oklahoma City made the biggest jump in results after going 1-3 last year, but the Thunder actually had a plus-24 lead thanks to one blowout win and three close losses.

Atlanta is working on several levels, both in-season improvement, as described above, and year-over-year. In the 2023 tournament, the Hawks went 1-3 with their only win over the weak Pistons and were outscored by 32 points – the worst team to reach the knockout rounds this season, let alone the semifinals.

Biggest disappointment: Cleveland Cavaliers

Group C in the East featured the conference’s top two teams this season, Cleveland and the Boston Celtics, but the Hawks emerged as unlikely winners. The Celtics finished at least in second place and would have advanced as the East’s wild card if the Magic had beaten the Knicks on the final night of group play.

The Cavaliers were long gone by this point, having lost 2-2 to both Atlanta and the showdown in Boston. The NBA Cup seemed like a golden opportunity for Cleveland to hang a rare banner. Instead, the Cavaliers will have to hope their strong start leads to strong playoff success next spring.

Best Game: Golden State 120, Dallas 117

The first night of the NBA Cup game featured the most memorable matchup: Klay Thompson returned to the Bay Area to face the Warriors for the first time since joining the Mavericks via sign-and-trade this summer.

Both player and team handled the emotional reunion (complete with sailboat captain’s hats) perfectly, with Thompson making six 3-pointers and scoring 22 points. The finish also lived up to the hype, as Stephen Curry scored the final 12 points for Golden State, which rallied from a 114-108 deficit with 3:10 to play to win a game that wasn’t decided until Luka Doncic scored 3 missed pointers to tie in the final seconds.

Both teams reached the knockout rounds, but the result gave Dallas a tougher matchup against Oklahoma City, where they lost in the quarterfinals.

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Klay Thompson comes in to applause from the Warriors staff

Before playing against Golden State, Klay Thompson returns to Chase Center to an ovation from the Warriors staff.

Most disappointing injury: Franz Wagner, Orlando Magic

The Magic were one of the best stories in group play, overcoming the absence of All-Star Paolo Banchero, winning their first three games in convincing fashion and securing the East wild card after the loss at Madison Square Garden.

Wagner was arguably the MVP of the group stage as he averaged 30.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 2.5 steals while taking over Banchero’s role as the go-to guy on offense. Unfortunately, when Orlando arrived in Milwaukee for the quarterfinals, Wagner was already on the sideline alongside Banchero after suffering an identical injury (an oblique tear) the previous weekend.

Without Wagner, the Magic put up a good fight but lost 114-109, ending the hopes of one of eight active franchises without an NBA championship to claim the NBA Cup.