Bucks make statement by rolling to NBA Cup title

The Milwaukee Bucks are the NBA Cup champions.

Is an NBA title next?

Too early? Fine. We Are just over a quarter of the way through the NBA season. And history – a very recent history, because that’s all there is to know about the league’s fledgling seasonal tournament – hasn’t exactly been kind to the cup winners. The Los Angeles Lakers won their first trophy last season. In the following weeks it was 3-10.

Still, it’s the Bucks roll. Tuesday’s win, a 97-81 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, isn’t counted in the league standings (the problem can be fixed, NBA), but it was (unofficially) the Bucks’ fourth straight win. Officially, Milwaukee is 12-3 since its terrible 2-8 start. Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 26 points do not count toward his season point total (also, in the league), but his scoring (a best 32.7 points per game in the NBA) and efficiency (61.4% from the floor) do. are career highs.

“We showed that the team we started the season with is not the team we are now,” said Damian Lillard. “And it was never who we really were.”

Yes. That wasn’t a victory. That was a statement. A back-and-forth first half ended with the Bucks taking a one-point lead. By the end of the third quarter it was 13. Antetokounmpo scored 12 points in the third quarter, rolling past Lu Dort, Jalen Williams and every other defender Oklahoma City threw at him. Lillard chipped in eight, hitting two of his team-high five three-pointers in the quarter.

“It’s blunt force on offense,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “They pump fastballs, and you have to be able to hit 98.”

It’s been almost five years since Antetokounmpo won his last league MVP. After securing the MVP title of the season tournament, he is aiming for another one. Last season, Antetokounmpo became the first player in NBA history to shoot above 60% in a 30 ppg season. He’s well on his way to doing it again this time. His three-point shooting hasn’t developed, but his mid-range game has, with Antetokounmpo adding an assortment of hooks, floaters and jumpers to his game.

“His journey to becoming the superstar that he is is tough,” Lillard said. “So once you get to that point, you don’t want to stop. You must continue to fight for your position and your current position. I think that’s who he is and that’s why he does things the way he does.”

Behind Antetokounmpo, the Bucks’ offense is humming. But it’s the defense that has pushed them back into contention. Through 10 games, Milwaukee had a defensive rating of 115.7, according to NBA.com. They gave up almost 116 points per game. In the last 15 games, the defensive rating has improved to 110. Opponents are averaging 109.3 points per game. The Thunder entered the game ranked eighth in the league in offensive rating. The 82 points Oklahoma City scored were a season low.

“One of the guys, I think yesterday, said all they heard about was the other team’s defense,” coach Doc Rivers said. “That’s all they’ve heard for two days. I think that bothered the boys.”

The Bucks will tell you they could have this coming. In October, after an eight-point loss to the Boston Celtics, I chatted with Lillard at his locker. “We will do it,” says Lillard confidently. The new defense put in place by assistant coach Greg Buckner took time to establish itself. The chemistry between Lillard and Antetokounmpo was a work in progress. But in the Milwaukee locker room, the confidence never wavered.

“If we go out and do the little things,” Lillard said. “When we play together, share the ball, make the right play, trust our scouting report, our defense and our plan, the better we are at putting together possession after possession and maintaining it for 48 minutes.”

There were optimizations. AJ Green, a three-point sharpshooter, was given a larger role in the rotation. Andre Jackson Jr., a defensive stopper, occupied the starting spot opposite Lillard. And good shooters — Green, Brook Lopez, Bobby Portis — who struggled early in the season started shooting.

“I think we’re competing (now),” Antetokounmpo said. “I think we are competing more. I feel like everyone understands that we have to compete more to be in a game or to win a game. Going into this season, I felt like we had the mindset that just because we have great talent on the team, things don’t just happen. Like the guys just dribbled the ball up and gave us the ball. I’ll go the other way and try to score. And that didn’t happen in the first ten games.”

After Tuesday’s game, there was an NBA Finals-like celebration on the floor. But after that there will be no more vacation. As he made his way to the locker room, Bucks assistant coach Darvin Ham — two-time Cup champion Darvin Ham who coached the Lakers last season — reminded everyone within earshot how far the team has to go. “We still have 56 games left,” Ham said. “No one forgets.”

In fact, Milwaukee travels to Cleveland on Friday for a far more consequential conference game. In the Bucks’ locker room, cases of champagne remained unopened. Commands from the coaching staff. Maybe saved for another day. One that counts.

“We’re going to improve and we’re going to keep at it,” Antetokounmpo said. “Because the work isn’t done yet.”