How Giannis, Bucks Clinched the Second Ever NBA Cup; Quarter by Quarter Summary

How Giannis, Bucks Clinched the Second Ever NBA Cup; Quarter by Quarter Summary

Giannis Antetokounmpo. I nearly guarantee you have heard his name. Two time MVP, All-star MVP, NBA Champion, and now NBA Cup Champion. In the second ever NBA Cup finals, Giannis and SGA (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander)-two of the most fundamental and exciting basketball players to watch right now-competed for their names to go back into the history books Giannis put up a triple double with 26 points, 10 assists, and 19 rebounds, and went 10-19 from the field, 0-0 from three, and 6-11 from the line. Lillard had 23 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. Lopez 13 points, 1 assist, and 9 rebounds. Middleton was also on the sideline the whole time with reported flu-like symptoms, so their win is even more impressive. But the Thunder were also missing Chet. Let’s dive deeper into how the game went. For the Bucks, Prince, Lillard, G. Antetokounmpo, Jackson Jr, and Lopez started. It was Jal. Williams, Hartenstein, SGA, Joe, and Dort for OKC. The Thunder won the tip-off, didn't convert, but ended up scoring the first basket in the game. The game started out close, but the Thunder seemed to have the game in control, while the Bucks seemed sped up and a little frightened. There weren’t a ton of whistles early on, which progressed the speed of the game really quickly. The Bucks didn’t take a lead until 3:25 left in the first quarter, when Lillard hit a down-town three. Caruso hit a buzzer-beater three at the end of the quarter, but it was deemed “too late,” the officials said it was still on his fingertips when the clock had expired. At the end of the 1st quarter the Thunder were up one. Hartenstein had so-far been the most crucial player for either team, dominating Milwaukee's defense with a screen and roll, which led to a little mid-range floater/jump shot. Lillard started the second quarter with a step back, fade-away, off one foot, corner three which splashed through the net with ease. Then, he got fouled on a logo three and made two of the three free-throws. Two minutes into the second, the Bucks were 7-11 throughout the whole game. They were up five, when Hartenstein got a dump to Williams, then J Dub got a steal to a coast to coast lay-up at 16 miles per hour. The lead was down to one. Ajay Mitchell then connected on two free throws to take the lead back. The action slowed down, and the clock moved incredibly slow because there were so many fouls. Half-way through the second, the Thunder had only sunk one three pointer. A time-out was called with the Thunder up by 4 with 6 minutes left in the half. Giannis started to control the offense for the Bucks, dominating every opportunity with either an alley-oop, or a mid-range pull up. His jumper wasn’t falling, but he also started getting his teammates open looks, and Milwaukee took the lead with 2 minutes left. Doc Rivers called time-out, and a fight broke out between Isiah Hartenstein and Andre Jackson Jr.. Counteracting technical fouls were assessed, and Milwaukee got the ball. After that, both teams started to get somewhat snippy on defense, committing cheap fouls. Dort checked out with 50 seconds left in the half with 3 fouls. Giannis traveled on a pass to Lopez with 2.5 seconds left, and Williams got an open logo floater, but it came up shy, leaving the Bucks up one at the half. Taurean Prince hit a three within the first 15 seconds, and Lillard got a steal into a transition three. Then, Jaylen Williams silenced the crowd with a beautiful counter. The Bucks turned it over, and Giannis picked up his third foul. The Thunder called time-out when they got down six. A loose ball started a wrestling match on the floor, with eight guys on top of each other fighting for the rock, starting with Lu Dort and Giannis. Dort got T-d up after expressing emotions in an inappropriate way, even though some reactions were reasonable after Giannis jumped on his back in the scrum. Lillard hit both penalty free-throws, and then the Bucks won the jump-ball and Giannis hit a three in a defender's face. SGA seemed calm throughout all of this, and drilled an elbow pull-up to break OKC’s drought. The game started to look less like basketball and more like a high school fight, with the refs like the teachers trying to manage it. The Thunder were 10% from three, as opposed to their normal 35%. Everyone on the Thunder besides Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams looked like they didn’t know what was happening on offense, just feeding the two stars and getting second chances if they missed. The final score after the third quarter was 77-64 Bucks. Jay. Williams started with a euro-step drive for the Thunder, and Gary Trent Jr. hit a three on the other side for the Bucks. Giannis and Shai took a breather to start the fourth. The Thunder called time-out after Lopez hit a high-arcing three that sky-rocketed up and in. The Bucks started to tear open the lead, getting the lead to 20. The Thunder started really missing Shai, nothing was going in, and no defense was locking up the perimeter game of Brook Lopez and Damian Lillard. Portis committed an offensive foul, and knocked Isiah Joe to the floor, who stayed there as the officials reviewed whether or not to upgrade it to a flagrant. The call was a flagrant one for a wind up follow through hit above the shoulders. The Thunder got two free throws and possession. Joe made both, and SGA checked back in. Their possession ended in a top-of-the-key three that bounced off the rim. Lopez committed an illegal screen on the other end though, so the Thunder got the rock back. Shai picked up his third foul (You need six to foul out) on an offensive push-off with 6 and a half minutes left, and the Thunder down 16. The Bucks called a time-out with 300 seconds left. The Bucks hit a three with 1:47 left, their last bucket of the game. The Thunder scored four more, the final score was Bucks 97 - Thunder 81, and Giannis won MVP.