A potential NBA Finals preview in Las Vegas.
The matchup for the 2024 NBA Cup Final is set. The Milwaukee Bucks will take on the Oklahoma City Thunder in Las Vegas for the opportunity to be crowned the second-ever champions of the NBA's in-season tournament. The winning side will receive a significant cash prize and a banner to hang in their home arena, assuming they follow in the footsteps of the inaugural Cup champion Los Angeles Lakers.
The Bucks held off the Atlanta Hawks in the semifinal, 110-102, thanks to yet another majestic performance from Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Greek Freak put up 32 points, 14 rebounds, and nine assists, his fifth straight 30-point performance. The biggest highlight of his day came on the defensive end, when he recreated his epic 2021 NBA Finals block by rejecting an alley-oop attempt in a manner impossible for anyone except Antetokounmpo.
In the second game of Saturday evening the Thunder took down the Houston Rockets, 111-96, in quite the rockfight of a game. The two sides combined for 57 free throws and 28 turnovers. But Shai-Gilgeous Alexander buoyed his team, recording 32 points, eight rebounds, and six assists. He was aided by the one and only Lu Dort, who put up 19 points on five three-point makes while playing his typically excellent brand of hard-nosed, in-your-face defense.
The Cup Final should be quite entertaining with these two teams. It is a possible NBA Finals preview; the Thunder are first in the West yet again after earning the top seed last year, while the Bucks shook off a 2-8 start to claw their way back up the East standings; Milwaukee is 14-11, sixth in the conference. The combined excellence of Giannis and Dame during this NBA Cup should serve as a reminder to the rest of the league that the Bucks are quite dangerous when both stars are on their game.
Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture.
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