Giannis and Bucks celebrate NBA Cup glory after destroying the Thunder… and banking a six-figure sum each

Last season, the Milwaukee Bucks were eliminated in the semifinals of the NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament at the hands of the Indiana Pacers. This year, they went to Las Vegas and will return to Wisconsin as champions.

The Bucks have won the second ever NBA in-season tournament, now known as the Emirates NBA Cup, defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder 97-81 at T-Mobile Arena in Nevada.

Led by superstars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, the Bucks celebrated on the court as two Emirates Airlines flight attendants wheeled out the trophy on a cart. As children from a local YMCA handed out medals to the stars on the championship team, NBA commissioner Adam Silver invited the team to hoist the trophy. 

Antetokounmpo raised it up high as confetti rained down on his teammates to celebrate their accomplishment. For his efforts in the win – scoring a triple-double of 26 points, 19 rebounds and ten assists – Giannis was named MVP of the tournament.

It’s the second team trophy that Antetokounmpo has gotten his hands on after he won the 2021 NBA Finals. It’s also the fourth time the Greek-Nigerian player has been named MVP of something: twice the league MVP, once the NBA Finals MVP, and now the NBA Cup MVP.

Celebrations were muted, by choice. Bucks head coach Doc Rivers told NBA insider Chris Haynes that after speaking with Darvin Ham, who won the NBA Cup last year with the Lakers, they decided that champagne would be eschewed in favor of beer so that the team might ‘focus on the remainder of the season.’ 

It’s also the first team trophy in the long and accomplished career of Antetokounmpo’s co-star, point guard Damian Lillard. 

Lillard complimented Antetokounmpo’s dominance in the post with a 23 point, four rebound, four assist performance highlighted by his 5-for-10 shooting from 3-point range.

Antetokounmpo praised Lillard when he was interviewed by ESPN’s Malika Andrews: ‘This guy is one of the best players I’ve ever played with. Top 75, his resume speaks for itself… We both did not feel 100 percent, but we grind, we grind. 

‘We knew that we had to do our job, we knew that our team needed us. And man, whenever I need this guy he’s always there for me, whenever he needs me I’m always there for him. 

‘We gotta keep on leading this team, we gotta keep on setting the table for others – making others better. Because at the end of the day, me and him, we’re going to be great. I’m so proud of him. Our chemistry is at the best it’s ever been and it’s going to keep getting better with time.’

After all the ceremony, Giannis was heard walking toward the locker room saying, ‘We here now. Job’s done. Job is done.’ 

The Bucks players all received a healthy financial incentive for winning this trophy: $515,000 each.

Once the Bucks reached the locker room, Giannis celebrated their windfall with dancing while shouting: ‘Everyone got $500,000 right?’

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 21 points but shot just 8-for-24 from the field, including 2 of 9 from 3-point range. Jalen Williams added 18 points on 8-of-20 shooting, while Isaiah Hartenstein added 16.

Lillard gave the Bucks an 11-point lead by draining one of his signature long range 3-pointers with 9:08 remaining in the third quarter. The bucket came directly following back-to-back technical fouls on Thunder forward Luguentz Dort and coach Mike Daigneault, leading to two free throws that Lillard sank.

Milwaukee carried a 77-64 lead to the fourth quarter.

Antetokounmpo scored 14 points in the first half and Lillard chipped in 12 as Milwaukee led 51-50 at the break. Hartenstein paced the Thunder with 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting in the half, despite earning a technical foul after a dust-up with Bucks guard Andre Jackson Jr. Neither team was able to extend the lead to more than five points in the second quarter as the Bucks outscored the Thunder 24-22.

The Thunder opened the game on a 16-9 run, forcing the Bucks to call timeout after 4 1/2 minutes. Lillard promptly answered, scoring seven of Milwaukee’s point Bucks as they went on a 13-4 run to take their first lead with 3:26 remaining in the first quarter.

Oklahoma City held a 28-27 advantage going into the second, in part because of a go-ahead 3-pointer by Gilgeous-Alexander with 1:22 left in the quarter.

Milwaukee made 34 of its 81 attempts (42 percent) from the field for the game, shooting 17 of 40 (42.5 percent) from 3-point range. The Bucks outrebounded Oklahoma City 52-43 and led by as many 20 points in the second half.

The Thunder shot 29 of 86 (33.7 percent) from the field, making only 5 of 32 attempts (15.6 percent) from long distance.