After an erratic 2-8 start to the season, the Milwaukee Bucks heard all the noise.
That superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo might be requesting a trade sooner than later if the team could not figure it out.
That he and Damian Lillard are not fit together to lead the Bucks back to the NBA summit.
That hiring champion coach Doc Rivers is a huge mistake.
Milwaukee heard what everyone else thought of them and went on to prove them wrong. It might be just the NBA Cup, but this latest conquest might be the preview of what lies ahead in June.
Antetokounmpo dropped a 26-point, 19-rebound, and 10-assist triple-double as the Bucks stifled the West-leading OKC Thunder to rule the in-season tournament for the first time in franchise history.
[ALSO READ: Giannis Antetokounmpo drops triple-double vs Thunder as Bucks rule NBA Cup]
The 30-year-old star was undoubtedly named as the NBA Cup MVP, adding this to his impressive accomplishments aside from being an NBA champion, a two-time league MVP, and Finals MVP.
But he knew there’s nothing to celebrate despite the win.
“We have a lot of things we have to improve. We’re going to improve, and we’re going to stay locked in because the job’s not done,” Antetokounmpo spoke after receiving his trophy.
"We're getting better... we're trusting one another... we're gonna leave Vegas and be a better team... job is not done, we have a lot of basketball in front of us."
— NBA (@NBA) December 18, 2024
- @Giannis_An34 🗣?💯
Damian Lillard added 23 points as he and Antetokounmpo combined for 69 points on the night the Bucks hit 17 threes and won 16 of their last 19 games.
“I think it’s one of those things where people wanted to put me with Giannis and think it was just going to be perfect right away because we’ve both been high-level players,” Lillard said in a post-game interview.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander paced the Thunder with a team-high 21 points on the night OKC could not buy a bucket from deep, missing 27 of their 32 attempts.
That punishing Milwaukee defense held OKC to season-lows in points (87), field goal percentage (34%), threes made (5), and assists (13).
A far, more tedious battle awaits for the Bucks in April if they qualify for the postseason, but Bucks head coach Doc Rivers made it clear what this win meant for Milwaukee .
“It reminds us that we can beat anybody,” Rivers said afterwards. “We can also lose to anybody if we don’t play right."
