Giannis and the Bucks dominate defense and win the NBA Cup title: “We believe we can beat anyone”

LAS VEGAS – Speaking to reporters before the NBA Cup Finals on Tuesday night, Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers was asked about the message his team sent to the rest of the league by beating the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder would send.

“I think the league already knows,” Rivers said flatly, two hours before his team took the floor. “I think the league knows we’re a pretty good basketball team. We believe we can beat anyone. And even if they don’t know, we don’t really care. We believe in it, and I think that’s all that really matters.”

Even though it wasn’t the Bucks’ goal, they made a loud and clear statement by destroying one of the NBA’s best teams, defeating the Thunder 97-81 to become the 2024 NBA Cup champions.

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“I think that means we have what it takes to compete with the best teams,” Bucks star and 2024 NBA Cup MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo said. “We played great basketball down the stretch. We get open shots.

“Our defense was better. We were the worst defensive team in the NBA for the first 10 games of the season, and now I think we’re in the top 10 in the NBA. We (held) a team that scored more than 80 points in all games. We’re getting better. I think with more time we will continue to improve as a team. We have to improve as a team.”

While the Bucks have already bounced back from a difficult 2-8 start to the season, winning 12 of their last 15 regular season games, Antetokounmpo was quick to add that winning the NBA Cup is not his team’s end goal.

“We have a chance to go deep into the playoffs, but we have to stay healthy,” Antetokounmpo said. “Today we had none of our best players, none of our best decision makers, none of our best shot makers and no great, incredible IQ. He was unavailable for the game. So for us there is a level that we haven’t reached yet.”

Khris Middleton, the third member of the Bucks’ Big Three, missed Tuesday’s game due to a non-COVID illness that has plagued the Bucks’ locker room in recent weeks. Milwaukee still had more than enough.

Antetokounmpo was dominant. He posted a triple-double with 26 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists, while also hitting three balls and having two steals. Antetokounmpo’s running mate Damian Lillard also played excellently despite a bruised right calf, scoring 23 points on 6 of 12 shooting, including 5 of 10 from long range, while also grabbing four rebounds and dishing out four assists.

But the Bucks set the tone with their defensive performance.

After a close first half, the Bucks stifled the Thunder, holding the NBA’s eighth-ranked offense to just 14 points in the third quarter and allowing 17 points in the fourth quarter. It was the second time the Thunder remained under 100 points this season, and although the NBA Cup Finals are not included in the season’s official statistics, the Thunder’s 81 points would have been the third-lowest point total of any team in an NBA game this season.

“I definitely think we made a statement defensively,” said Taurean Prince, who scored six points in 21 minutes. “We talked a little about what could be. So the expectations only get higher, but we knew we wanted to get better as the season progressed and peak at the right time.”

The Thunder made just five of their 32 3-point attempts and the Bucks were a big part of making them uncomfortable. As has happened so often in the last month, this attempt began with Andre Jackson Jr. having the ball against the opponent’s best player.

As he did against Tyrese Haliburton, LaMelo Ball and Trae Young, Jackson did everything in his power to keep the ball out of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s hands for 94 feet.

Gilgeous-Alexander (21 points) is a spectacular player, so he shook himself free for shots, just like he did above in the first quarter game. But that wasn’t something Jackson feared.

“We’re all mortal, you know? That’s how I see life, and basketball is the same way,” Jackson said. “Just because you score 30 points probably means you make the most shots. I’m not afraid to compete against anyone because that’s my role and I’ve always had to be like that to get this far. I’m not afraid of competition, of any duel; I’m ready to take it.”

But it wasn’t just Jackson making defensive plays. In the third quarter, the Bucks decided to put in a lot of effort defensively and execute their game plan.

Take a look at Lillard early in the third quarter:

And Antetokounmpo at the end of the quarter:

“Everyone did their job,” Lillard said. “We defended. We played well from the start of the game to the end. I think it just showed what we’ve built.

“I think everything fell into place in our biggest game yet. Everything came from the film room and in practice as we became a more connected team and there was confidence on both sides of the ball. I think it shone brightly in a really important game for us. I think that felt best.”

Milwaukee has made a habit of winning ugly lately, and it doesn’t get much uglier than Tuesday’s game. Along with the New Orleans Pelicans and Philadelphia 76ers, the Bucks are one of only three NBA teams that haven’t scored 130 or more points in at least one game, but they had just enough against the league’s best defense, even with 19 turnovers .

“One advantage we had – and again we came here and heard from the old team and all the young guys – we just kept talking about our greatness,” Rivers said. “And the slower the game gets, the bigger we get.

“And we always talked about that. If we take them out of transition, make it a half court game, we can be a great basketball team. I thought it would be good for us to start the second half by repeatedly playing on the elbows of Giannis so he can see where the traps are coming from.”

As discussed in our article on Antetokounmpo on Tuesday, Rivers has made it a priority to slow Antetokounmpo by placing him at the elbow or in the post. In the past, attempting to completely penetrate the swarming Thunder defense might have resulted in a turnover-filled affair and major frustration for the two-time MVP. Antetokounmpo still had four turnovers, but he spent most of the second half picking apart the Thunder defense.

Without the right big players to handle Antetokounmpo and Lopez, the Thunder played smaller wings and forwards and sent help early when Antetokounmpo took off toward the basket. That became a real problem in the second half, as the eight-time All-NBA forward patiently continued to make the right play, starting with a simple assist on the first possession of the second half.

Even in moments when it seemed like the Thunder might be able to frustrate him with physical play, Antetokounmpo got to his spots and found the right pass, even if it didn’t end up in the box as an assist.

“I have to be honest, at the beginning (of the season) I never initiated my offense from the elbow or the high post,” Antetokounmpo said. “Usually it’s a transition or screen-and-roll. So it was a strange transition. I had the conversation with Doc. He told me that you can be very, very effective when you sit on the elbow. You are under the wall. It’s very hard for people to show a huddle, and when people show a huddle it makes it easier for you to make the pass and you’re one step closer to the basket.

“I worked on it all summer. And it’s not just about scoring points. There are levels. Sometimes you can facilitate. They can make (Gary Trent Jr.) the hockey assist for the open 3. You can create shots yourself. You get to the free throw line. I think it allowed me to be a little more effective down there and help my teammates be great. It’s something new for me. I played in the elbow area for 25 games. I think I’ll stay there for the rest of my career because I’m getting better and better. I’m getting better at it.”

This is one of the reasons why the Bucks are a scary team for the rest of the NBA. They sit in fifth place in the Eastern Conference at 14-11, but they showed what they’re capable of when playing at the highest level by handily beating the best team in the Western Conference.

But as Antetokounmpo noted after the game, the Bucks still have a long way to go. On Friday in Cleveland, they have another chance to prove that they are not only a good team with a high ceiling, but a great team with a high ceiling.

“We just have to stay humble and keep improving,” Antetokounmpo said. “We have a lot of basketball ahead of us. (Cleveland is a) very, very good team. They will wait for us. Right now, emotion is at an all-time high. We have to bring it down, be humble.

“When we leave here tomorrow, get back in the gym, lock yourself up and hopefully we can win against the Cavs.”

Required reading

• After winning the NBA Cup, the Bucks leave the champagne on ice: “They get back to work”
• Antetokounmpo’s MVP performance caps the Bucks’ NBA Cup championship run
• Antetokounmpo never panicked about the Bucks: ‘I really believe in myself’

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(Photo of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard: Stephen Gosling / NBAE via Getty Images)