The Cavs showed that they can still win with defense.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was smiling ear to ear at his postgame press conference while sporting his NBA Cup championship hat and shirt with the medal around his neck on Tuesday. The NBA Cup MVP trophy, with plenty of fresh fingerprints on it, was sitting on the table in front of him.
“Winning feels good!” said Antetokounmpo after his Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in Las Vegas. “We had this goal as a team, and we accomplished it. I’m very proud of everybody.”
Ending a game with a trophy and confetti usually means the season is over in American sports. It doesn’t with the NBA Cup. This wasn’t lost on Antetkounmpo. A part of his mind was still on the season to come and on the matchup with the Cleveland Cavaliers just three days away.
“All of [the people within the Bucks organization] need a glass of wine and a good steak, or chicken, or fish, whatever they choose because we can take a break now,” Antetokoumpo said. “But on Friday, we have one of the best teams in the NBA.”
This was the second time he brought up the Cavs unprompted in his 10-minute post-game press conference. It was clear why this was something Antetokounmpo kept mentioning based on the results of Friday’s game.
Cleveland’s front line proved to be a much tougher matchup for Antetokounmpo. Oklahoma City has the best defensive rating in the league by a wide margin, but you couldn’t convince Antetokounmpo that they’re a better defense than Cleveland.
“It’s definitely harder,” Antetokounmpo said about the Cavaliers’ defense when asked to compare them with the Thunder. “I think they show, they close gaps better, a better rebounding team. That’s pretty much it. It’s harder. I know OKC was a great defensive team, but we were bigger than them. ... Here’s a team that can match up against us.”
Cleveland’s size was the difference maker. Oklahoma City is good because of their interchangeable wings. Their defense plays as if they’re connected on a string. The problem is, you can bully them in the paint as Antetokounmpo repeatedly showed. He couldn’t do that against Cleveland.
Not many teams have one frontline defender as good as Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen, or Dean Wade. Having all three out there at the same time allowed the Cavs to be able to switch every screen Antetokounmpo tried to force while still having plenty of help on the backside.
“It’s harder for you to get in the paint to finish,” Antetokounmpo said. “They show a lot of crowds, it’s hard for you to drive and kick.”
The Cavs’ defensive integrity and not needing to collapse resulted in Milwaukee’s role players not being able to get open threes. On Tuesday against Oklahoma City, Antetokounmpo was able to get 10 assists with many coming off of drive-and-kicks. This resulted in Taurean Prince, Brook Lopez, A.J Green, and Gary Trent Jr. going 11-22 (50%) from distance. Against Cleveland, Antetokounmpo had just 3 assists while that group combined to go 4-12 (33%) from three.
“They do a great job of covering for each other,” said Khris Middleton. “With their two bigs, even Dean Wade, you know, protecting the paint, being physical, using their length. Like I said, they do a great job of protecting each other. When one’s not there, the other one is there. And then most times they’re both there.”
Doc Rivers said this was a game that “we learned nothing” from. Honestly, that’s a fair assessment even though the Cavs are now 3-0 against his team on the season. Milwaukee had a short turnaround from playing in Vegas and poured a lot of effort into winning NBA Cup meant something. That extracts a toll on you that’s hard to measure.
“It’s definitely weird,” Antetokounmpo said. “Usually when you hold up a trophy, that’s it. You have an off-season, time to rest, time to be with your family, which is weird. ... You cannot really celebrate because in two days you’re playing the best team in the NBA.”
Antetokounmpo showed this past week that he still might be the best player in the league. At worst, he’s second behind only Nikola Jokic. Giannis and Damian Lillard, who missed Friday’s game in Cleveland, can be enough to get past any team. But the Cavs present a unique challenge for them. No one can throw the size at Antetokoumpo that Cleveland can.
The offense is what has allowed the Cavs to climb to the top of the standings. But at their core, this is still a great defensive team. Friday’s showing was a great example of that.
There’s a reason why Antetokounmpo was thinking about the Cavaliers when he was fresh off of winning the NBA Cup. He seemed to know that this was going to be a tough night for his team and it was.
