How Milwaukee won the NBA Cup

The Milwaukee Bucks are the hottest team in the NBA.

With their NBA Cup championship secured on Tuesday with a 97-81 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Cup final, the Bucks have now won 13 of their last 16 games, with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard continuing their standout play continued.

The 2-8 start and talk of Lillard’s challenging adjustment to a new team alongside Antetokounmpo fade into the embers of October and early November.

Antetokounmpo was named NBA Cup MVP and helped defeat the Thunder with a triple-double of 26 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists. He also had three blocks and two steals.

Lillard contributed 23 points.

Here are the winners and losers of the NBA Cup:

NBA Cup winners and losers

Winner: Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo

In six Cup games, Antetokounmpo averaged 30.5 points, 10.2 rebounds, 7.7 assists, 2.8 blocks and 1.2 steals while shooting 66.7% from the field.

Nikola Jokic is having a great season and is averaging almost a triple-double with 30 points. But no one is currently playing better and helping his team win more than the 30-year-old Antetokounmpo.

He is the NBA’s leading scorer with 32.7 points per game and averages 11.5 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.6 blocks while shooting 61.4%, which would be a career high if he maintains that percentage.

A third MVP for the Bucks star is a strong possibility if he keeps playing like this and the Bucks keep winning.

Loser: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s production

OKC’s MVP candidate was limited to 21 points on 8-for-24 shooting on Tuesday, including 2-for-9 on 3-pointers. The Bucks did a fantastic job using their size to prevent Gilgeous-Alexander from controlling the game. He only had four rebounds and two assists.

“The way I felt tonight, I still made my shot, my spot, I just didn’t do anything,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Things like this happen.”

Winner: Damian Lillard-Giannis Antetokounmpo combination

They are the highest-scoring duo in the NBA at 58.4 points per game and are playing like the nearly unstoppable combination the front office expected when the Bucks acquired Lillard before the start of the 2023-24 season. Of Lillard’s 23 points, 15 came on 5-for-10 3-point shooting.

When Lillard and Antetokounmpo play at this level, they put tremendous pressure on opposing defenses.

“So proud of the group,” Antetokounmpo said. “Everyone was extremely focused. We came in, we were focused and played great basketball and we were able to win that game. We had this goal as a team and we achieved it. … I’m so happy about it.” Lady that we won our first trophy together. We have to keep improving and getting better, and we will get better.

Winner: Milwaukee Bucks

The Bucks used the NBA Cup to improve their season after that 2-8 start. Can they now use this success to move forward for the rest of the season? They have moved up to sixth place in the Eastern Conference standings and are just 1½ games behind the New York Knicks for third place.

“I don’t think you can do it,” Lillard said of the poor start to the season. “But we showed that the team we started the season with is not the team we are now and was never what we really were. I just got off to a rough start.”

Loser: Oklahoma City Thunder

The Thunder lost and their offense let them down in the Cup final. It’s difficult to win an NBA game by 81 points. They scored just 31 points in the second half and 14 in the third quarter.

Oklahoma City is still a quality team with depth, an MVP candidate in Gilgeous-Alexander and another potential All-Star in Jalen Williams. They will get Chet Holmgren back later this season and will be a team to beat in the West playoffs.

“We didn’t score nearly enough points, especially in the second half, to give ourselves a chance to win, but we can learn from it,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “We’re making progress here.”

Winner: Milwaukee’s 3-point shooting

The Bucks went 17-40 on 3-pointers (42.5%) and outscored Oklahoma City 51-15 on 3-pointers. Five Bucks made at least two 3s, and that was indicative of Milwaukee’s success from that distance this season. This season, it ranks third in 3-point shooting percentage and 10th in 3-point shooting percentage per game.

Winners: Darvin Ham and Taurean Prince

Special thanks to Bucks assistant coach Darvin Ham and Bucks reserve coach Taurean Prince. They are now 14-0 in the NBA Cup. Ham was 7-0 as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers in 2023 and 7-0 as an assistant with the Bucks this season. Prince played for the Lakers last season and moved to the Bucks this season.

“We brought our secret weapon,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “Darvin Ham has been an unbeaten coach in this cup for two years now and then when I said it, TP, he asked: ‘What about me?’ “

Loser: Thunder’s 3-point shooting

The Thunder had a dismal record of 5 for 32 (15.2%): 1 for 6 in the first quarter; 0:11 in the second quarter; 2 against 7 in the third round; and 2-for-8 in the fourth. The Thunder are a good 3-point shooting team (19th in 3-point percentage), and that area of their game is worth watching. In today’s NBA, a team has to make 3s, and the Thunder are 12th in 3s made per game.

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How Milwaukee won the NBA Cup

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