Bucks Are Emirates NBA Cup Champs; Whip OKC Thunder, 97-81 in KO Final
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 18 Dec 2024
Milwaukee proved too tall and big inside as well as too sharp on the outside as the Bucks steamrolled a game but lackluster Oklahoma City Thunder, 97-81 in the knockout Final to win this season's in-tournament competition now known as the Emirates NBA Cup championship.
Aside from a handsome trophy, the championship carried with it hundreds of thousand dollars in cash as incentive to the individual members of the winning team plus an automatic playoff spot for the 7th place in the regular season playoffs.
Back to form superstar bigman Giannis Antetokounmpo was named as MVP after powering the Bucks with a triple double output that reminded of his NBA Finals title winning performance a few seasons back.
It did not help OKC that they were again without their main bigman Chet Holmgren who could have helped contain the inside plays of Giannis as well as Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis which really did the Thunder in. Relief center Isaiah Hartenstein did his best but Giannis and company were simply too much to handle.
OKC had hoped to neutralize the Bucks size advantage with impeccable outside shooting which they employed in defeating the Houston Rockets earlier. But the Thunder never come close to replicating that as OKC could only hit 5 of 26 attempts from the three points area, a shooting futility exemplified no less by their supposed main outside threat, Shai Gilgeous Alexander.
If anything, this game only added to the growing ill reputation of OKC as a choker team which it first acquired last season in throwing away its homecourt advantage in losing to Dallas Mavericks in the second round of the post season in the West.
On the other hand, by advancing all the way to this championship, Milwaukee has shown signs that it is again ready to vie for conference honors at least in the East after a woeful 2-8 start. This victory also has shown that Damian Lillard could play good music with Giannis and the rest of the Bucks as Lillard was instrumental in setting up some plays that allowed Milwaukee to stay in front in the close first half and eventually pull away starting the third quarter.
After Giannis's 26 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists, Lillard followed with 23 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists and Lopez with 13 points and 9 rebounds. So thorough was the Bucks superiority that coach Doc Rivers had the luxury of putting in many of his support crew led by George Trent who scored four triples.
Alexander still topped for the Thunder with 21 points but his woeful shooting from the floor particularly from the three points area doomed the OKC cause.
Milwaukee has opted for a milder victory celebration in gay Las Vegas as it will be in for a reality check with the resumption of the regular season games against the league leading Cleveland Cavaliers.
The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.
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