Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard grab attention with NBA Cup moment

12/18/2024 12:20 AM

The Milwaukee Bucks became the champions of the second annual NBA Cup on Tuesday night, knocking off the Oklahoma City Thunder in the championship game 97-81. With the win, each Bucks player gets a $500,000 bonus, which is a huge chunk of money for some of the younger players and guys at the end of the bench who don’t make eight-figure salaries.

For the stars, like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, the extra money doesn’t mean as much, but they still got the job done for their teammates and to add another trophy to the trophy case. After the game, the two pillars of this Bucks team shared an emotional moment together.

Dame and Giannis embrace pic.twitter.com/XSAeSHnrog

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) December 18, 2024

After the moment aired on television, Bucks fans and fans all around the NBA were gushing about the two stars on social media.

“Just a warm up for when we get Giannis his 2nd ring and Dame his first,” one fan posted on X, formerly Twitter. Another added, “Man I hope they make a run at the real one together.”

While the two stars had a good night — Lillard had 23 points and made five 3-pointers while Antetokounmpo had a 26-point, 19-rebound, 10-assists triple-double — the Bucks won this game with their defense. After taking a 51-50 lead into halftime, the Bucks held the Thunder to just 31 points in the second half while they pulled away on the other end to secure the win.

The Thunder came into this one with an NBA-best +12.1 point differential on a per game basis, but their offense could never find any footing in this one. Oklahoma City finished this game just 5-for-32 from three and shot under 34% from the field as a team. Despite turning the ball over just 10 times, the Thunder had no answers for this suffocating Bucks defense.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had one of his worst games of the season as the Bucks threw a multitude of bodies at him and made life difficult for the Thunder superstar all night long. He finished the game just 8-for-24 for 21 points, marking his first game with less than 25 points since Nov. 10. 21 points is his lowest total since Oct. 30 against the San Antonio Spurs.

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