Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with a triple-double, recording 26 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists, earning the Cup MVP award.
LAS VEGAS — The Milwaukee Bucks won the 2024 NBA Cup on Tuesday, defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder 97-81 in the championship game on a neutral court in Las Vegas.
Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with a triple-double, recording 26 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists, earning the Cup MVP award. Damian Lillard added 23 points, shooting 5-of-10 from three.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 21 for the Thunder — the only player on the team to score more than 20 points — in the losing effort.
“It’s the best feeling ever, just winning feels good,” Antetokounmpo said after the game. “It’s not just about the game, it’s everything leading up to the game… All those feelings leading up to the game make winning even better.”
The first half was incredibly close, and Milwaukee held a one-point lead at halftime. But the Bucks dominated the second half, especially the third quarter, outscoring Oklahoma City 26-14. The Thunder’s 14 points in the third were their fewest in a quarter this season.
Then the Bucks led by as many as 20 points in the fourth quarter, stifling any potential comeback.
“I feel lucky,” said Lillard, who won the team trophy for the first time in his career. “It was something we wanted to win, and just being in something like this, the second year, I feel like the team is a little bit more “They cared about that. I think the teams played with a little more pride in trying to get to Vegas and having a chance to win at the end.”
Milwaukee’s success was largely due to its outside shooting advantage. The Bucks outscored Oklahoma City by 36 points from three-point range.
The Thunder’s offense, meanwhile, has cooled. Oklahoma City entered Tuesday’s game with the eighth-best offense in the NBA. But the team’s poor three-point shooting was worth it, as the Thunder shot just 15.6 percent from beyond the arc and 33.7 percent from the field overall.
“Yeah, we didn’t shoot very well tonight,” Gilles-Alexander said after the game. “It’s not really an excuse. There were definitely controls tonight that we could have taken care of, but we didn’t, and that’s why the score looked the way it did. We shot poorly and won games before, so it’s not an excuse.”
The Bucks’ win avenged their loss in last season’s NBA Cup, the first-ever iteration of the tournament. In 2023, Milwaukee made it to Las Vegas for the semifinals, but lost to the Indiana Pacers. This year, the Bucks finished a perfect 7-0 in the Cup.
While the Finals don’t count toward either team’s league standings, Milwaukee’s championship run puts the crapper on a spectacular early-season turnaround. After starting the season 2-8, the Bucks have now won 13 of their last 16 games, including Tuesday’s game. However, their record still stands 14-11.
“I feel like it means we have enough to compete with the best teams,” Antetokounmpo said of the importance of the win. “But we have to stay humble.”
At 20-5, Oklahoma City remains atop the Western Conference after Tuesday’s game. The Thunder’s three-point shooting will be interesting to watch going forward, though. In an NBA that increasingly relies on the long ball, Oklahoma City ranks just 19th in 3-point percentage, which could put it at a disadvantage against other contenders.
As the winning team, Milwaukee players will each receive $514,971, while the Thunder players will receive $205,988.
The Bucks resume their regular season on Friday against the Cleveland Cavaliers, who lead the Eastern Conference.