LAS VEGAS — The Milwaukee Bucks won the 2024 NBA Cup on Tuesday, defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder 97-81 in the championship game at a neutral site in Las Vegas.
Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with a triple double, recording 26 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists, taking home Cup MVP honors. 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 over 20 points — in a losing effort.
“It’s the best feeling ever, just winning feels good,” Antetokounmpo said after the game. “It’s not only about the game, it’s everything leading up to the game … all those feelings leading up the game makes the winning even better.”
The first half was played incredibly even, with Milwaukee taking only a one-point lead into halftime. But the Bucks dominated the second half, particularly the third quarter, outscoring Oklahoma City 26-14. The 14 points the Thunder scored in the third were their fewest in a quarter this season.
The Bucks then led by as many as 20 points in the fourth quarter, holding off any potential comeback.
“I feel happy,” said Lillard, who won a 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 that teams cared about it a little bit more. I think teams played with a little bit more pride about trying to reach Vegas and having an opportunity to win at the end.”
Milwaukee’s success was predicated largely on its outside shooting advantage. The Bucks outscored Oklahoma City by 36 points from three-point range.
The Thunder’s offense, meanwhile, went cold. Oklahoma City entered Tuesday’s game with the eighth-best offense in the NBA. But the team’s iffy three-point shooting cost it, as the Thunder shot only 15.6% from beyond the arc, and 33.7% from the field overall.
“Yeah, we didn’t shoot it well tonight,” Gilgeous-Alexander said after the game. “It’s not really an excuse. There was definitely controllables tonight we could have taken care of and we didn’t do so, and that’s why the score looked the way it does. We’ve shot bad and won games before, so it’s not an excuse.”
The Bucks’ win avenged their defeat from last season’s NBA Cup, which was the first ever iteration of the tournament. In 2023, Milwaukee made it to Las Vegas for the semifinals, but was defeated by the Indiana Pacers. This year, the Bucks finished a perfect 7-0 in Cup play.
Though the final does not count toward league standings for either team, Milwaukee’s championship run puts a capper on an impressive early season turnaround. After starting the season 2-8, the Bucks have now won 13 of their last 16 games including Tuesday’s game. Their record, however, still stands at 14-11.
“I feel like it means we have enough to compete with the best teams,” Antetokounmpo said about the importance of the win. “But we have to stay humble.”
At 20-5, Oklahoma City remains in first place in the Western Conference after Tuesday. The Thunder’s three-point shooting will be interesting to monitor moving forward, however. In an NBA increasingly reliant on the long ball, Oklahoma City ranks only 19th in three-point percentage, which could put it at a disadvantage against other contenders.
As the winning team, Milwaukee’s players will each receive $514,971, while Thunder players will receive $205,988.
The Bucks will resume their regular season slate Friday against the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers.
Oklahoma City, meanwhile, plays again Thursday, taking on the Orlando Magic on the first night of a back-to-back.
