Tuesday night, the OKC Thunder and Milwaukee Bucks squared off in the title round of the second annual Emirates NBA Cup.
Though Oklahoma City may have come into the exhibition as both the superior team in the league's rankings and with the better odds to be crowned In-Season Tournament champs, after 48 minutes of action the underdog Bucks ultimately managed to reign supreme.
While the contest was quite competitive and close during the early stages of play, with the score being separated by just one point (51-50) in favor of Milwaukee heading into the half, Giannis Antetokounmpo and company took full advantage of the third period, stretching their lead to 13 come the quarter's conclusion and never looked back.
Behind a strong 26-point triple-double performance by the Greek Freak and strong two-way play from the team as a whole, the Bucks saw their hot month-long stretch continue, as they secured a dominant 97-81 win over OKC and, more importantly, the 2024 NBA Cup Championship.
As for how the Thunder allowed themselves to be so embarrassed on the national stage, several factors played key roles in their unruly demise.
Key reasons Bucks bested Thunder in NBA Cup Finals
4. Nonexistent second-unit offense
During the championship round against these Bucks, the Thunder scored under the century mark for just the second time all season.
While this alone is highly underwhelming, what makes things worse is the fact that just 15 of their 18 total points were generated by their second unit.
Despite having four bench players log 14 or more minutes on the night, and having six of the seven who entered hoist up at least one shot, the reserves cashed in on a mere 23.5 percent of their attempts from the field, with just two makes in total coming in the crucial second half.
All season their secondary lineup has consistently put forth lackluster efforts in the scoring department, and, against Milwaukee, these struggles proved too grave for the starters to overcome.
3. Lost the rebounding battle
Since Isaiah Hartenstein made his regular season debut with the Thunder late last month, the ball club has been one of the better teams on the boards as they've ranked eight in rebounds a night over a 10-game span.
Unfortunately, they were not able to see the same level of effectiveness in this area of the game, as they fell shy of their 46.0 average with 43. Subsequently, they allowed the Bucks to snatch down 52 board, which is roughly 10 more than what they've been averaging on the year.
What makes matters worse is that they also wound up grabbing nine rebounds on the offensive side of the ball, which led to nine second-chance points. Comparatively, OKC has just seven of such boards and totaled just seven second-chance opportunities.
Overall, losing the rebounding battle not only allowed the Bucks to generate more possessions but it also let them control the pace and overall tempo of the game.
2. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's offensive inefficiency
This season, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has found himself playing at a truly historic level and appears well on his way toward notching his third consecutive All-Star and All-NBA apperance.
However, against the Bucks on Tuesday night, SGA fell way short of his regular brand of production, particularly on offense.
Be it his lackluster 10 points scored on 13 shot attempts in the first half to his even more daunting 2 points scored in the pivotal fourth quarter, the 26-year-old's offensive efficiency was far from what the Thunder needed to see to have any semblance of a chance to be crowned NBA Cup Champions, especially when facing off against two fellow superstars in Giannis and Damian Lillard.
While it may not have been on the game's biggest stage (i.e. in the NBA Finals), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's performance proved quite costly in this title-round.
1. Going 5-for-32 from deep
Without question, the biggest detriment to the Thunder during Tuesday's contest was their woeful conversion rate from beyond the arc.
In the first half alone, the Thunder hoisted 17 shots from distance. They managed to make just one of these attempts.
In truth, it was a shock they trailed by just one point with this percentage being countered by Milwaukee's 7-for-18 success rate.
Despite their lackluster shooting, coming out of the half Oklahoma City didn't shy away from leaning on the long ball when given an open look, which proved to be a majority of their attempts from deep.
Alas, their misfortunes were unable to be altered, as they would make just four three-pointers in total from then on out and, as a result, finish off with a nauseating 15.6 percent clip on the night.
From good looks falling short and, in turn, leaving points off the board to the effect it had on halting any semblance of momentum (especially when the Bucks started to heat up in the third), the inability of the Thunder to get anything going from three-point land was without question the biggest reason for their NBA Cup loss.