Bucks win NBA Cup, but leave champagne on ice

LAS VEGAS — After finishing up his postgame news conference, his NBA Cup MVP award to his left and a smile across his face, Giannis Antetokounmpo continued to soak in the moment.

“Oh man, what a feeling,” he said. “What a great feeling. I’ll see you guys again, I promise.”

As he walked down the hallway toward the Bucks locker room, he continued. “What a great feeling. What a great feeling.”

The Milwaukee Bucks had just won the 2024 NBA Cup on Tuesday night with a dominant 97-81 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder and Antetokounmpo was named MVP, adding to an already lengthy résumé of accolades, including Finals MVP, two-time league MVP and NBA champion.

However, the Bucks left the boxes of champagne provided by the NBA untouched after the game. They skipped the traditional postgame locker room celebration for a more subdued scene, with players bopping along to music and sipping drinks at their locker.

“Last time I drank a little bit of champagne, when we won the championship [in 2021], I had like a full body cramp,” Antetokounmpo, who finished with a 26-point, 19-rebound and 10-assist triple double, said with a laugh.

Two members of the Bucks organization, assistant coach Darvin Ham and forward Taurean Prince, were members of the Los Angeles Lakers last season when they won the inaugural NBA Cup. The Lakers celebrated with a champagne shower following the victory, but struggled after the tournament, dropping 10 of their next 13 games.

“It’s tough,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “You come out of this and you’re back to the grind.”

So the Bucks elected to skip the full celebration, but that does not mean they didn’t savor the moment. In fact, Antetokounmpo, who said he does not drink, implored the team to celebrate the accomplishment.

“There has to be,” he said. “This has been a great trip. This has been a trip for six days everybody has been locked in, on time for the film sessions, so focused on the walkthroughs. At practice we were able to be so sharp.”

That focus showed up throughout the NBA Cup, where Milwaukee went undefeated at 7-0. And it was on further display during a dominant defensive effort Tuesday night, as the Bucks held the Thunder to a season-low 81 points, including 31 points in the second half.

Milwaukee allowed season-lows in points (81), field goal percentage (33.7%) and 3-point percentage (15.6%).

“We’ve shown the team we started the season as is not the team that we are now. And it was never who we truly were. Just got off to a tough start.”

Bucks guard Damian Lillard

“I definitely think we made a statement defensively,” Prince said.

After beginning the season with a 2-8 record, the Bucks have bounced all the way back, beating the team with the best record in the Western Conference in the process. Rivers said it’s the kind of win that “reminds us we can beat anybody.”

“We’ve shown the team we started the season as is not the team that we are now,” said Bucks guard Damian Lillard, who finished with 23 points. “And it was never who we truly were. Just got off to a tough start.”

Since winning only two of their first 10 games, the Bucks have the best record in the NBA at 12-3 (Tuesday’s game does not count in the official standings). Antetokounmpo encouraged his teammates to enjoy the win, but he also wanted them to stay focused on how they have been playing over the past 15 games and carry that forward.

“We have just got to stay humble, keep on improving,” Antetokounmpo said. “We have a lot of basketball in front of us. We play Cleveland on Friday. Very, very good team. They are going to be waiting for us. Right now, the emotion is at an all-time high. We have to bring it down, be humble. Once we leave here tomorrow, go back to the gym, lock in and hopefully we can go and get a win against the Cavs.”