The Bucks got off to a horrible start to their season with a 2-8 start. However, they have looked much better recently and an NBA Cup win is icing on the cake of their season recovery. The Bucks comfortably defeated the Thunder 97-81. This win was powered by a 26-14 run by the Bucks in the third quarter.
NBA Cup Recap – First Quarter
The game was very close in the first quarter. The Thunder left the quarter with a narrow one-point lead, 28 points to 27 points. Big man Isaiah Hartenstein helped lead the Thunder to their short-lived lead with 10 points and two rebounds. Hartenstein was brought in by the Thunder to take pressure off Chet Holmgren and allow the team to play better vs. big teams. He helped them do exactly that.
Meanwhile, the Bucks were kept in the game by Damian Lillard. Lillard scored seven points and had three assists. Lillard has started to look much more comfortable playing next to Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Second Quarter
Meanwhile, the second quarter helped push the Bucks to a narrow halftime lead of 51 points to 50 points. This was thanks to the Bucks scoring 24 points in the second quarter to the Thunder’s 22. Antetokounmpo led the way for the Bucks with eight points. This meant that the eventual NBA cup MVP scored 14 points in the first half.
Meanwhile, Hartenstein once again made the biggest contributions in the quarter. He scored four points. However, what made his quarter impressive was his five rebounds. I’ve seen many people spread the narrative that the Bucks won since they were “bigger” than the Thunder. I’m not sure I agree with this narrative since Hartenstein made his presence felt. I think the difference maker was the Thunder shooting just 15 percent from three.
Third Quarter
As stated earlier, the Bucks were able to win this game in large part thanks to a powerful third quarter. Antetokounmpo nearly matched his total for the entire game with 12 points in the quarter. However, this is somehow not the most eye-catching part. Antetokounmpo also managed to get ten rebounds. I’m not talking about the entire game, I’m talking about in this quarter alone.
Meanwhile, Cason Wallace tried his best to inject energy into the Thunder. His numbers were not impressive, scoring just two points and getting one assist. However, watching the game it was clear he was the only member of the Thunder who was doing anything to try and stop the Bucks. However, he’s just one man and the Bucks went on their run regardless.
Fourth Quarter
The game was effectively over by the fourth quarter. However, the Bucks didn’t let the pedal off the metal and still outscored the Thunder 20 to 17 in this quarter. In blowout games, teams generally let their bench pieces do the work. The Bucks did this with Gary Trent Jr. scoring eight points and three rebounds.
Hartenstein was still crashing the boards with his three rebounds in the fourth quarter. He finished the game with 12 rebounds total. Shai Gilgeous Alexander, despite being an MVP candidate, contributed very little to this game. He shot 33 percent from the field and got just two assists. He only got to the free throw line four times in the game, which is unusual for a guy who is memed for shooting a lot of free throws.
As stated earlier, Antetokounmpo was the MVP of the NBA Cup. In this NBA Cup championship game, Antetokounmpo got a triple-double with 26 points, and 19 rebounds, including 12 in the third quarter and 10 assists. This game does not count for the NBA standings, stats, or MVP voting. However, if Antetokounmpo can keep this up the Bucks will have a top-three record in the Eastern Conference and Antetokounmpo’s name will be forced into MVP talks.
The Bucks next game after the NBA Cup is on Friday, December 20 when they take on the Cavaliers in Cleveland. Meanwhile, the Thunder will look to bounce back on Thursday, December 19 when they go to Orlando to play the Magic.
