Emirates NBA Cup Champion to be Crowned Tonight in Vegas: Starting 5, Dec. 17

What it’s all about tonight in Las Vegas…

5 STORIES IN TODAY’S EDITION

Dec. 17, 2024

One Game For The Cup: The Bucks or Thunder are 48 minutes away from claiming the 2024 Emirates NBA Cup

Bounce Back: The Bucks’ run to the Cup Championship epitomizes their season turnaround

Trophy Hunting: The Thunder are hungry to compete for championships, starting tonight

MVP Candidates: Giannis and SGA take center stage with the Cup on the line

Monday Thrillers: Jamal Murray & Tim Hardaway Jr. hit the big buckets late for Denver & Detroit

BUT FIRST … ⏰

Only one game on the schedule tonight…

Before the Bucks and Thunder meet for the Emirates NBA Cup Championship (8:30 ET on ABC), test your knowledge of both teams’ runs to the final.

EYBL Scholastic Wraps In Vegas: Some of the top high school prospects were in action at the 2nd annual EYBL Scholastic Showcase, as play concluded with Sunrise Christian defeating Long Island Lutheran behind a combined 22 points from Chidi Nwigwe and Gavin Placide.

1. THE STAGE IS SET, A CHAMPION WILL BE CROWNED TONIGHT

It All Comes Down To This: After 60 Group Play games, four quarterfinals and two semifinals, tonight it’s…

One game for the 2024 Emirates NBA Cup.

Who Will Hoist The Cup? Representing the West is the Oklahoma City Thunder (20-5 overall, 5-1 in Cup Play); representing the East is the Milwaukee Bucks (14-11 overall, 6-0 in Cup Play).

Coming In Hot: These are two of the league’s hottest teams, at a combined 17-3 over their last 10 games — 9-1 for West-leading OKC, 8-2 for the East’s fifth-place Bucks.

Live from Las Vegas: As the only game of the night, the basketball world shines its spotlight on T-Mobile Arena, where the Thunder and Bucks look to become the Emirates NBA Cup champion (8:30 ET, ABC).

How The Bucks Got Here: Milwaukee is the only team to make it to Vegas in the first two years of the in-season competition.

Won East Group B: The Bucks went unbeaten in Group Play for the second consecutive year

Behind a combined 65 points from Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, the Bucks knocked off the Magic, 114-109

Clutch buckets from Dame and a ridiculous clutch block by Giannis helped the Bucks outlast the Hawks, 110-102

How The Thunder Got Here: The top team in the West all season and riding the league’s top defense, the Thunder are one win from their first trophy.

The Thunder went 3-1 in Group Play, clinching the group by holding the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Suns

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 39 points and a defensive effort that held Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving to a combined 33 points helped OKC take out the Mavs, 118-104

After being held to 41 points in the 1st half as the top two defensive teams clashed, SGA and the Thunder put up 70 in the 2nd half to prevail, 111-96

What They’re Saying: The teams met with the media ahead of Tuesday’s Championship game to discuss the stakes and what a win would mean.

Bucks coach Doc Rivers: “We were struggling early, and the Cup started and we said, ‘Let’s win it.’ That told me that our team believed what I believed; that we’re going to be a really good team at some point. It just took longer than we thought.”

OKC coach Mark Daigneault: “It’s an elevated situation with a lot of distractions and a lot of noise around it against a very good team. So it’s a great test and a great challenge to kind of figure out where we are and how we play in this type of situation.”

SGA: “It’s obviously heightened stakes than a regular-season [game], and it’s good to get reps in games that mean a little bit more and have stakes to it. It’s been fun and beneficial to the group.”

2. MILWAUKEE’S CUP RUN PART OF BIGGER TURNAROUND

On Nov. 10, when the Bucks fell to 2-8 – their worst start through 10 games in a decade – it was hard to imagine that just 37 days later they would be looking to complete an undefeated run to claim the NBA Cup.

Since that 2-8 start, the Bucks have gone 12-3, including a perfect 6-0 record in NBA Cup play to bring them into tonight’s matchup with OKC as one of the hottest teams in the NBA.

So what changed over the past five weeks? We’ll dig into some of the numbers from Milwaukee’s on-court play, but listen to Giannis discuss the turnaround after the Bucks’ win over the Hawks in the Semifinals.

“We trust one another now. We play together. There’s no more hero ball. I think in the beginning of the season we tried to do it ourselves.”

“We’re a very talented team … a lot of guys can take it off the dribble, can try to score by themselves.”

“But the more we figured out we have to compete as a team, we’ve got to move the ball as a team, we’ve got to play together, we’ve changed our season around.”

“But we’ve got to keep going. The job’s not done.”

What The Numbers Say:

More Assists: Milwaukee went from averaging 21.5 assists (27th) during their 2-8 start to 25.7 (19th) in their 15 games since

With two elite isolation players in Giannis (6th in iso ppg) and Dame (16th), the Bucks stars still create for themselves, but the increase in assists shows a better balance in the offense

Huge Leap From 3: The Bucks went from 16th in 3-point percentage (35.6%) to tied for first (40.9%) during this turnaround

Knocking Them Down: Taurean Prince (49.1%), Gary Trent Jr. (46.8%), Bobby Portis (42.9%), AJ Green (41.9%) and Brook Lopez (40.5%) are all shooting 40%+ from deep on 3+ attempts per game

Clutch Efficiency: The Bucks ranked 28th in clutch offense (89.3) and 26th in clutch defense (135.7) as they went 0-3 in clutch games over their first 10 games

Since then? The Bucks have gone 8-2 in clutch games, rank 14th in clutch offense (111.7) and second in clutch defense (88.4) – with plays like this…

3. THUNDER PLAYING FOR ONE TROPHY WITH EYES ON ANOTHER

The Bucks have been to the mountaintop – winning their first title in 50 years back in 2021.

The Thunder are still on the climb – seeking the franchise’s first title in 45 years and the first of the OKC era.

A season ago, the Thunder became the youngest team to finish first in a conference but saw their Playoff run end in the West Semifinals.

Seven months later, the Thunder find themselves atop the West once again and in a playoff-type atmosphere, looking to hoist the NBA Cup as they continue to build toward competing for the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

The Winning Formula: OKC has combined an MVP candidate (SGA), a rising star (Jalen Williams), a stifling defense (league-best 103.1 rating) and timely additions (Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein) to have its best start through 25 games since 2013.

Lockdown Defense: The Thunder are the only team to have more steals (304) than turnovers (295) through 25 games since turnovers began being tracked in 1977-78

The Thunder have three players ranked in the top eight in steals: Williams (2.0 spg, 4th), SGA (1.9, 6th) and Cason Wallace (1.8, 8th)

With leading rim protector and shot blocker Chet Holmgren sidelined (hip), Hartenstein (51.6% allowed, 9th) has kept OKC among the toughest teams to score against at the basket

Life isn’t easy on the perimeter either with Lu Dort and Caruso hounding opposing guards and wings with elite on-ball defense

Caruso allows Gs and Fs to shoot just 29.3% (16.4% from 3) while forcing 32 turnovers compared to 41 buckets allowed. Dort holds opponents 39.2% shooting (29.7 from 3) while forcing 49 turnovers

Since the start of last season, the Thunder are 77-30 (.720) during the regular season, second only to the defending champion Celtics (.787).

Can the Thunder couple that regular-season success with the type of winning that delivers trophies for the franchise? Their first shot at one comes tonight in Vegas.

4. MVP CANDIDATES MEET WITH CUP ON THE LINE

With skills as vast as the names that stretch across the backs of their jerseys, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander lead the Emirates NBA Cup MVP Ladder and rank in the top three in the season-long Kia MVP Ladder.

Shai leads the NBA Cup MVP Ladder with Giannis a close second, with tonight’s game likely deciding who will take top honors

Giannis has the edge in the season MVP Ladder, ranking second to reigning MVP Nikola Jokić while SGA sits in third place

For Giannis, the Cup MVP would allow him to match LeBron James with a collection of four different MVP honors: regular season (2019, 2020), Finals (2021), All-Star (2021) and NBA Cup (2024).

For Shai, the Cup MVP would be his first individual honor after finishing as the runner-up to Jokić for the Kia MVP last season, as the 26-year-old continues to ascend.

Giannis and Shai enter the Emirates NBA Cup Championship as two of the four 30+ PPG scorers in the NBA this season – with both players doing so for the third straight season.

Giannis leads the league with a career-best 32.7 points per game while playing with historic efficiency – ranking fifth in the league at 61.4% shooting

He has shot 50% or better in all 23 games he’s played this season – the second-longest streak to open a season behind Rudy Gobert’s 25 in 2018-19

Dating back to last season, Giannis has 25 straight games with 50%+ shooting, tied for the seventh-longest streak ever. He needs nine more games to pass DeAndre Jordan’s record of 33 in a row

Driving Force: SGA leads the NBA in drives (21.2 per game) and points scored off drives (15.1), shooting 58.6% on those plays. His drives result in 13.3 points in the paint per game – the highest mark among all guards.

Three-Level Scorer: Shai is averaging a career-best 2.1 3-pointers this season – just shy of his past two seasons combined – as he utilizes the entire court as a scoring threat

In addition to scoring inside the paint and beyond the arc, SGA ranks fifth in the league in mid-range buckets (tied with Giannis at 44), and ranks second in free throws made (7.1 per game, just ahead of Giannis’ 7.0) on 86.4% shooting

Ranking second and third in usage rate, respectively, Giannis (36%) and Shai (32%) have been the primary option for their teams all season long. Which player will have the greatest impact with the Cup on the line?

5. MONDAY: NUGGETS, PISTONS PREVAIL IN THRILLERS

Nuggets 130, Kings 129: Trailing by 23 early in the 2nd quarter, the Kings stormed back to take the lead in the 3rd and held an eight-point lead with three minutes to play before a 9-0 run by Denver set up a back-and-forth finish. | Recap | Watch Denver’s Final Rally

The lead changed hands seven times in the game’s final 1:15 with Denver prevailing for their third straight win

(20 pts, 14 reb, 13 ast) posted his league-leading 10th triple-double of the season, with his final assist going to Jamal Murray for the

with 8.6 seconds left

Triple Threat: Sacramento had three players score 25+ points in the loss – De’Aaron Fox (29), Domantas Sabonis (28 pts, 14 reb) and Malik Monk (25 pts, 10 ast)

Pistons 125, Heat 124 (OT): Trailing by 19 in the 4th, the Heat closed regulation on a 26-7 run, capped by Tyler Herro’s 3 with 5.1 seconds left to force overtime.

In the extra frame, Tim Hardaway Jr. caught fire with three straight 3s to lift Detroit over Miami and snap the Heat’s four-game win streak. | Recap | Watch The OT Finish

Detroit Duo: Malik Beasley (28 pts, 7 3s) and Cade Cunningham (20 pts, 11 reb, 18 ast) combined for 48 in the win

Cade’s Rise Continues: Cunningham set a career-high in assists for the the third time in 12 days as he posted his sixth triple-double of the season

Historic Line: Jimmy Butler (35 pts, career-high 19 reb, 10 ast, 4 stl) posted his 17th career triple-double, became the first Heat player with a 35/15/10 game and only the third NBA player with at least 35/19/10/4 in a game

Clippers 144, Jazz 103: James Harden started the game hot (outscoring the Jazz 24-20 in the 1st quarter) and didn’t cool off as he finished with 41 points and seven 3s to lead the Clippers to a wire-to-wire win to snap their three-game losing streak. | Recap

Sixers 121, Hornets 108: Tyrese Maxey (40) and Paul George (33) combined for 73 points with six 3s apiece to lead the Sixers past a returning LaMelo Ball (15 pts, 11 ast) and the Hornets. PG passed Jason Terry to enter the top 10 all-time in 3-pointers made. | Recap

Bulls 122, Raptors 121: Despite a combined 59 points from RJ Barrett (32 pts, 9 ast) and Gradey Dick (27 pts), the Bulls held off the Raptors in the 4th for their second straight win. Nikola Vučević led the Bulls with 24 points and two blocks. | Recap

Cavaliers 130, Nets 101: The Nets scored the game’s first seven points before the league-leading Cavs responded with a 37-10 run to close the 1st quarter and never looked back. Evan Mobley led seven Cavs in double figures with 21 points. | Recap