The Milwaukee Bucks won the second edition of the Emirates NBA Cup with a 97-81 win over the OKC Thunder tonight in Las Vegas, as the Bucks become the first Eastern Conference team to lift the trophy.
Darvin Ham is now 14-0 in the NBA Cup, having led the Los Angeles Lakers to last year’s crown as head coach. After his second straight NBA Cup win, Ham told Doc Rivers to have the team forgo the champagne celebration in the locker room to remain focused on the rest of the season after his experience with the Lakers last year.
“Bucks coach Doc Rivers told me after talking with Darvin Ham and his experience with Lakers last season, they chose not to celebrate The Cup championship with dousing and drinking of champagne. Want to focus on the remainder of the season.”
The implication that the NBA Cup win satisfied the Lakers’ expectations for a successful season is a pretty strong one. It could be a comment on the Lakers going through a rough month-long slump after winning the NBA Cup which required a herculean late-season effort to overturn.
This might not be indicative of the players given the effort they played with in the latter half of last season, but could be to avoid complacency as an organization. The Lakers chose to make zero moves at last season’s trade deadline due to the belief their core of players could compete in the Playoffs.
This was a misguided notion then which has been exemplified by the Lakers’ struggles even after installing a new head coach this season with a nearly identical roster, sans Taurean Prince who also remains undefeated in the NBA Cup as he signed with the Bucks this summer.
Darvin Ham’s contributions to the Bucks’ NBA Cup run have been complemented by Doc Rivers as well, with the Bucks head coach calling Ham the secret weapon for this win.
“Oh, yeah, that’s why you brought them. We said that right away. We brought a secret weapon: Darvin Ham. He’s now an undefeated coach in two years in this cup.”
Ham might have initiated a great symbolic gesture to show the Bucks’ commitment to competing for an NBA title, but it’s hard to imagine the players won’t celebrate this win at all in Las Vegas. They might have a celebration for later in the night planned, but even the players on this veteran-led squad would be mature enough to know that this Cup win isn’t indicative of a successful season.
Tonight’s win didn’t count in the NBA Standings, but the Bucks have overcome a 2-8 start to the season to sit No. 5 in the East with a 14-11 record.
Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard have finally shown how good they can be as a duo, leading the Bucks to a great run over the last month despite chemistry concerns which have now been dismissed.
The team’s depth is still questionable due to Brook Lopez’s decline and Khris Middleton’s injury, but they’re looking like the Bucks of old once again and will be a major Playoff threat regardless of seeding.
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