Giannis Antetokounmpo was determined to win the NBA Cup. He came close in 2023, losing in the semifinals. A year later, Giannis and Milwaukee Bucks had some unfinished business in Las Vegas. They took care of business with an impressive all-around performance.
Behind a suffocating defense and a triple-double from tournament MVP Antetokounmpo, the Bucks throttled the Oklahoma City Thunder, 97-81, to claim the 2024 Emirates NBA Cup title. Giannis was a major factor on both ends of the court as he finished the game with 26 points, pulled down 19 rebounds, dished out 10 assists and had three monster blocks.
Antetokounmpo anchored a Bucks defense that stymied the high-scoring Thunder, holding them to 33.7% shooting from the field and 5-for-32 from the 3-point line. OKC star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was held nine points below his season average (21) and made just 8-for-24 shots from the field.
“We’re getting better,” Antetokounmpo told ESPN’s Malika Andrews postgame. “We know we’re leaving Vegas as a better team. I’m so proud of this group. Man, I’m so proud of this group.”
It was refreshing to see a superstar like Giannis put maximum effort during the whole NBA Cup tournament. He could have easily taken his foot off the gas pedal and saved his body for the stretch run in the spring. But you can tell he wanted to win the Cup.
When it was over, Giannis couldn’t hide his excitement after lifting the NBA Cup trophy and the tournament MVP trophy, adding to his growing collection of trophies. He was dancing and hamming it up with his teammates and coaches during the postgame celebration on the court at T-Mobile Arena.
But Giannis knows there’s more work to be done. He’s far from done hoisting trophies.
“Job is not done,” he said. “We have a lot of basketball in front of us. We have a lot of things we need to improve. We are going to continue to improve. We’re going to stay locked in because the job is not done.”
Winning the NBA Cup was extra special for this Bucks squad following a dreadful 2-8 start, and many basketball experts were wondering if the partnership between Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard was ever going to work. But head coach Doc Rivers believed his team will eventually figure it out, especially defensively.
“We struggled coming out of the gates,” Rivers said. “No one here doubted what we can be and who we can be and we just hung in there. We stuck together and this is the byproduct of a team sticking together.”
It’s easy for a team to stick together and not fall apart when the leader of the team is also the most humble and harder worker. The Bucks are Giannis’ team. He sets the tone and leads by example.
“When he’s out there playing so hard, you can’t do anything but follow his lead,” Bucks center Brook Lopez said about the two-time NBA MVP. “He’s the best player in the world. You gotta follow him. He’s such an incredible leader.”