LAS VEGAS – Bright lights. National spotlight. Playing for a trophy – and half a million dollars each for the players.

The NBA Cup Championship Game is the definition of a big game.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks have been on the NBA’s biggest stage before and have the ring to prove it. The Oklahoma City Thunder were and are the top seed in the West with their own MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but they are still the younger team looking to prove they belong. For the Thunder, this setup gives some playoff practice.

“This is a big challenge. “It’s a challenging situation with a lot of distractions and a lot of noise against a very good team,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said.

Here’s everything you need to know about the NBA Cup Championship Game.

NBA Cup Finals schedule

Championship in Las Vegas (Tuesday, December 17)

Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Milwaukee Bucks, 8:30 p.m. ET (ABC)

Analysis of the NBA Cup Finals

Pay attention to the pace of this game, it will tell us everything. The Thunder are an aggressive, ball-pressure defensive team that averages a league-best 12.2 steals per game. They also lead the league in deflections, and once they force a turnover, the Thunder’s young legs break out and run. The Thunder rank fourth in the league in percentage of possessions that start in transition, while the Bucks rank 24th. If this game becomes an Athletics game, Oklahoma City will get away with it.

Also, expect a lower-scoring, more defensive matchup: The Thunder have the best defense in the NBA, and although the Bucks have started the season slowly, they have a top-10 defense over the last 15 games. Whichever team can solve the puzzle of how to score on the other side will win – which is what Oklahoma City did in the semifinals against Houston when it scored 70 points in the second half. The Bucks solve a lot of problems because they can rely on the Giannis Antetokounmpo/Damian Lillard pick-and-roll, which is almost impossible to defend.

NBA Cup 2024 odds

(odds via Bet MGM):
Oklahoma City -4.5 over Houston
Under/Over: 215.5

Prediction: Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City is a team that is learning its lessons. At the end of last season, the Thunder played the Bucks and…let’s let OKC coach Mark Daigneault explain it to us.

“We played them on the road last year towards the end of the year and they really did it to us and it was a great game for us,” Daigneault said of the game in which Antetokounmpo had 30 points and 19 boards. “Because we had a great season up to that point and we were playing against a team that was really willing to take it to us, and they did. Physically abused us. I played with a bigger lead that evening. It was good – it was like water in our faces.”

No one has an answer for Giannis Antetokounmpo, but this is a much more physical, mature Thunder team with the league’s best defense anchored by Isaiah Hartenstein. OKC will slow down Antetokounmpo and still has defenders to keep an eye on Damian Lillard. On the other hand, Milwaukee will have trouble slowing down Gilgeous-Alexander and a balanced Oklahoma City attack that leads the league in drives and has 3-point shooters collapsing to protect the paint. Give me the thunder and I’ll give up the points.

How much do players earn for winning the NBA Cup?

Each player on the NBA Cup-winning team will take home more than half a million dollars – and the players are very open about how much that motivates them. Even those who make tens of millions of dollars.

“In Little Rock, Arkansas, where I’m from, the minimum wage is very low. It’s going to take guys a lifetime to make $500,000,” Bobby Portis said. “So I don’t take any dollar amount lightly.”

This is what it looks like per player:

• NBA Cup winner: $514,971
• Players on the losing team in the championship game: $205,988
• Players from the losing teams in the semifinals: $102,944
• Players from losing teams in the quarterfinals: $51,497