LAS VEGAS – The joy was undeniable on the faces of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, as streamers came from the skies above T-Mobile Arena after the Milwaukee Bucks clinched the NBA Cup with a 97-81 victory over Oklahoma City. Thunder.
They needed it, not as a dress rehearsal for June, not to complete their resurrection from the NBA’s early stagnation, but for each other and for this brick-by-brick approach they have to take between now and April.
But as much as the Bucks needed this, the NBA needed it more, and probably in spades.
A similar refrain seems to have been uttered this time last year, when the Los Angeles Lakers showed they could focus on single-game sample sizes at the start of the season better than anyone wanted, but we largely already knew that .
The teams seemed to understand the concept of an NBA Cup better this time, and even if Tuesday night’s final won’t ultimately make a dent in the overall standings, it felt different.
“It was something we wanted to win and being in something like this, year two, I feel like teams cared about it a little more,” Lillard said. “I think the teams played with a little more pride in trying to get to Vegas and have a chance to win at the end.”
There was authenticity in the air, perhaps marked by increased physicality and some harmless technical fouls.
It felt… conflicting, but not dangerous.
Or at least, he didn’t seem all that analytical. It didn’t seem so sterile.
And that’s the biggest victory NBA Commissioner Adam Silver could have hoped for, regardless of who was taking center stage in Las Vegas. Sure, the big American stars would have helped, but they didn’t get here and it’s increasingly unlikely that the usual suspects will be around when we’re in full swing for the playoffs in a few months.
There was an irony given that earlier in the day, the NBA revealed its latest plans to revamp the All-Star weekend, or Sunday afternoon exhibition game, which has become much more of a joke than it might have been. that anyone would want.
Silver admitted it in a short session with journalists an hour before the Cup final.
“I was wrong about last year,” Silver said. “I thought in Indiana that, you know, given the fact that it was seen as the heart of basketball and the strong presence of some legends there, the guys would turn back the clock a little bit and play a traditional game. and it wasn’t meant to be that way.”
What followed was the most embarrassing midseason showcase, where calling it a “midseason” would have been an extreme compliment. Later rumors focused on perhaps adding more financial incentives: again, the premise that the league would have to beg players to play rather than someone stepping in among the 24 stars to say “we have to do better.”
Better was on display Tuesday, and while it’s unfair to compare one type of exhibit to another, the point is valid. The competition here was pure. Even though Oklahoma City’s misfortunes were largely due to wayward shooting (five of 32 from 3-point range), that team of long, energetic competitors went after it and challenged the more experienced and determined Bucks.
The final roll was not indicative of effort but of execution. And again, these results are easier to accept when the game feels guided more by emotion than by a mathematical equation.
Milwaukee clearly won the 3-point game, outscoring the Thunder by 35 points, but the tone was aggressive. Fans can connect with the aggression, and the league can package that and sell it; They’d probably love to bottle that magic potion and spread it around, if only to change the narrative, that the players are indifferent and unserious until Christmas. Day at the earliest.
“I’ve even heard from some players, and as you see, it’s not unique to the NBA, where the analytics are starting to get too controlling,” Silver said. “And creating situations where players do seemingly unnatural things because they are being told to do something that is a more efficient shot.
“And part of what we’re also focusing on is that what makes these players so incredible is the joy they bring to playing and also the freestyle notion of the game.”
Silver again admitted a failure of the league in leaning too much toward offense through the rules and trying to walk a delicate balance to gradually balance the scales: fans want to know that what they are seeing is something truly remarkable and difficult, at the same time. At the same time, he is surprised by the creativity of the players and the investment of a team that comes together for a common goal.
The latter is what Oklahoma City has begun to master as it sits atop the West standings for the second straight year and looks set to be more recognizable in the coming seasons, a franchise built to last.
The latter is what Milwaukee has been able to accomplish over the past few weeks after a rocky start, and with their core duo finding chemistry through repetition, we could see a matchup against the Boston Celtics in a high-stakes playoff series, a Hopefully, it doesn’t revolve entirely around mathematics.
“We had a lead, and again we came here and heard about the old team and all the young guys (Oklahoma City),” Doc Rivers said. “And we keep talking about our size, and the slower the game gets, the bigger we get.”
That’s the advantage of having a supernova like Antetokounmpo and another giant like veteran Brook López. Presumably, they can play different styles, especially when Khris Middleton (who is ill) is back to reasonable strength.
But his great strength is the man who is elbowing his way to the front of the MVP race, the player who isn’t ashamed to say how much he wanted this seemingly meaningless award just because it was a competition he wanted to win. .
“It’s the best feeling I’ve ever had. Simply winning. Winning feels good,” Antetokounmpo said. “Playing big games makes you feel good when you’re able to come to the game and execute your game plan, and then the result is exactly what you want it to be.”
Make no mistake, no championship was won, and if either team falters when the going gets really tough, a Las Vegas night in December won’t be a memory, but a mirage.
However, during one night, Silver remembered, like the rest of us, that beauty doesn’t look or feel all that homogeneous and that it’s never too late to start getting it right.