LAS VEGAS — The heavy wooden door swung open, unaware and indifferent toward who was behind it. Out came Damian Lillard, nursing his illustrious cup trophy, strolling onto the tile floor of T-Mobile Arena’s hallways, which by then was spotted with the golden confetti that’d been kicked a hundred feet from the celebration.
As he emerged, his path down the hallway required a couple large people to scoot over: Chet Holmgren, forced to tuck his crutches to his side, and Alex Caruso.
Lillard’s triumphant exit then would’ve been his last time asking the Thunder to move over — only he never asked.
If the NBA Cup was within the Thunder’s reach — hell, in its grasp — the Bucks, with a boost from Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 7-foot-3 wingspan, simply hit the top shelf and ripped it away.
Oklahoma City’s 97-81 loss on Tuesday night was proof: the Bucks superstar continues to be a head-scratching, pain-inducing, Advil-selling myth of a man. His 26 points, 19 rebounds, 10 assists and three blocks on 10-of-19 shooting felt simulated. Too effortless to have been exerted in a setting with other professional players.
That’s been the definition of his season. He’s pushed his own limits, and now he’s pushed a defense that history adores.
More:NBA Cup finals give OKC Thunder rare national spotlight: ‘You need to see us on TV’
With a chance at being crowned in the second NBA Cup (first under the name), that group seemed mortal. Typically swarming to the point it forces teams into 20-plus turnover games, the Bucks gave it up just 17 times, still an inaccurate picture of how much OKC was at Antetokounmpo’s mercy.
Simplicity won. The Bucks, especially without Khris Middleton, opted for Lillard-led pick-and-rolls and Antetokounmpo catches at the elbow or wing. There was no complex motion for the Thunder to pick off. Just good ol’ shotmaking — Lillard had 23 points and five 3s on 50% shooting, and the Bucks made 17 of their 40 3-point attempts — and size.
Antetokounmpo was colorblind; the Thunder’s Gatorade orange threads looked an awful lot like a scarlet muleta. He raised his horns and charged through the Thunder defense like a beast provoked.
OKC’s double teams were inconclusive. Its help was helpless. Its staff and players alike were flustered, both by Antetokounmpo’s impossibility and the way he was officiated. His playmaking reads shredded the Thunder for countless looks in the corner.
Perhaps none of Antetokounmpo’s muscle might’ve mattered if OKC’s offense looked like a semblance of itself. Not just what it was a season ago, but an inkling of what it’s been even this season.
Its 81 points were a season-low. It shot a putrid 5 of 32 from deep, a season low 15.6%. At half, it was 1 for 17, by far its worst 3-point shooting half of the season. Some were funneled OKC’s way. Others were bobbled out of shooting pockets. Others were meant to fall and didn’t.
More:Stephen A. Smith says pressure is on Sam Presti, OKC Thunder to win NBA title
All sank the Thunder’s chances of holding the cup as dearly as Lillard.
“I could have done a better job shaking us in free in some situations,” coach Mark Daigneault said.
For a while, All-NBA guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was an extension of Bucks wing Andre Jackson Jr. Jackson weaved every direction SGA’s untucked jersey did, chasing him while others initiated offense.
Gilgeous-Alexander eventually shot just 8 for 24, admittedly getting the touches but not drilling too many of the looks that have beefed up his MVP case. Jalen Williams watched runners clank. Center Isaiah Hartenstein and his push shot were long a godsend, though the Bucks eventually caught up to that too.
The man that could’ve added touch, or simply forced Antetokounmpo to ignore OKC’s impotent drives, was sidelined with the world’s largest crutches.
“It was more on us,” center Isaiah Hartenstein said. “We got shots, we shot terribly. … When a coach gives you the freedom, you have to create the shots that he gives us the freedom to.”
For what it’s worth, OKC’s blunder didn’t count toward its season, a ghost game on the calendar. But it cared. At the very least for the money, reduced to $205,988 after losing the title game. Certainly for the competition.
“We care, but it’s not like a playoff,” Hartenstein said. “Yeah, we’re frustrated, but I think we’re using it more as a learning experience. It’s definitely something better than a normal regular season game, but we’re also not seeing it as a playoff series.”
Non-playoff-but-better-than-regular-season-games sting, too. The door still hits you on the way out.
More:How OKC Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams found comfort in film sessions
Gruesome offense for Thunder vs. Bucks
Earlier this week, Daigneault described Milwaukee’s trounce of the Thunder in late March as “water in the face.”
Tuesday was a dip into the ravine.
A reminder of what can happen when OKC’s offense doesn’t resemble last season’s but instead plummets.
Hartenstein’s return has helped the Thunder inch beyond the middle of the league in efficiency, in the top-10 as of this week. But Milwaukee’s presence, not so frequent and with the obvious caveat of boasting a 1-of-1 superstar, proved to be another necessary inflection point.
“They’re like the Lakers,” Daigneault said of the Bucks. “They’re like Dallas. There’s a size element to them, you really have to try to move around. It’s hard to do that. … They pump fast balls against you, and you got to be able to hit 98.
“These are informative games.”
OKC couldn’t reach for its season-long anomaly of a free-throw rate Tuesday, when it earned more (22) than the Bucks (18). While missing almost 30 3s, it had time to acknowledge its flaws — both this night and throughout the season.
It entered Tuesday shooting 35.1% from deep on the season, 19th-best in the NBA a year after it was the league leader in 3-point efficiency.
Variance is the game. On a Wednesday, it might’ve seen Lu Dort be championed and Gilgeous-Alexander emoting after pull-up 3s. But the Cup final was equal parts the Thunder’s offensive inconsistency and the price of nature’s whims.
Through Williams’ final three Cup games, he shot just 39.3%. His All-Star case, bulky as he is around the time he played pseudo-center, has come under a microscope in Vegas.
Gilgeous-Alexander was blitzed and dissected, part of OKC’s dreadful 3-point shooting Tuesday but running out of options. Excluding Dillon Jones, who played once the white flag was waived, the Thunder bench shot just 4 for 17.
En route to 20 wins, the Thunder hasn’t made many excuses about not having Holmgren. But Tuesday was a night it deeply missed the lanky 22-year-old, a convincing All-Star in spurts during his 10 games this season and an easy draw for Antetokounmpo’s inside presence.
Fight length with length. Stardom with stardom. On Tuesday, OKC fought for its life, while Holmgren surely fought his inner-thoughts that craved to contribute.
“We know it’s gonna be different when (Holmgren) comes back,” Caruso said. “But still, it’s adding bullets to the chamber. … At some point, Chet’s not gonna play 48 minutes. And if we need to go small at some point or we need to throw (Hartenstein) in there where it’s a rolling, traditional big, we’ll be able to play that way.”
(This article was new information.)
