<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/ranking-giannis-antetokounmpos-10-greatest-accomplishments-of-his-career');   ga('set', 'title', 'Ranking Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 10 greatest accomplishments of his career');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Ranking-Giannis-Antetokounmpos-10-greatest-accomplishments-of-his-career.jpg"></figure><h1>Ranking Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 10 greatest accomplishments of his career</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-24T08:49:41-08:00">December 24th, 8:49am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-24T08:49:41-08:00">December 24th, 8:49am</time><address><a href="https://www.facebook.com/spencersee10" rel="facebook">Spencer See</a>Spencer See is a part-time writer at ClutchPoints focusing on the NBA, evergreen content and celebrity lifestyle. He is also a lifelong fan of LeBron James. In his free time, he either goes fishing or watches basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Giannis Antetokounmpo has carved out an inspiring basketball career. From dealing with the challenges back in Greece with his family to becoming a superstar in the NBA, it has been a journey for the Greek Freak. With the Milwaukee <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bucks-news-fans-go-wild-milwaukee-nba-cup-dominance-vs-thunder">Bucks conquering the NBA Cup</a> this year, let’s rank Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 10 greatest accomplishments of his career.</p><p>Check out the gallery.</p><h2><b>1. 2021 NBA Champion and Finals MVP</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Giannis-Antetokounmpo-celebrates-with-the-NBA-FInals-MVP-trophy.jpg"><figcaption>Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The Greek Freak pretty much cemented his legacy after leading the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bucks-news-magic-johnson-reveals-4-key-factors-in-giannis-antetokounmpo-milwaukee-nba-finals-win">Bucks to an NBA title in 2021</a>. It was the franchise’s first championship in five decades. Moreover, Antetokounmpo took care of business in historic fashion.</p><p>The Greek Freak <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/202107200MIL.html" rel="noopener">finished with 50 points and 14 rebounds</a> in the championship clincher to put away the Phoenix Suns for good, capped off by a clutch alley-oop dunk.</p><h2><b>2. Back-to-back NBA MVPs</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Giannis-Antetokounmpo-shows-off-his-NBA-MVP-trophy.jpg"><figcaption>Michael Sears / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via Imagn Content Services, LLC</figcaption></figure><p>It wasn’t long ago when Antetokounmpo established himself as an elite player in the league when he conquered his first NBA MVP back in 2019. The Bucks star averaged 27.7 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game while shooting nearly 58% from the field overall.</p><p>Shortly after, Antetokounmpo wasn’t done, as he conquered his second-straight NBA MVP. He posted an improved 29.5 points and 13.6 rebounds to go along with 5.6 dimes per game.</p><h2><b>3. 2024 NBA Cup Champion and MVP</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Giannis-Antetokounmpo-poses-with-the-NBA-Cup-trophies.jpg"><figcaption>Kyle Terada-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Just recently, Antetokounmpo added more hardware to his already decorated NBA career. The Greek Freak helped the Bucks become the 2024 NBA Cup champions during the tournament’s second edition.</p><p>In the In-Season Tournament, Giannis averaged 30.5 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 7.7 assists per game, including a 26-19 double-double performance in the championship clincher against the Oklahoma City Thunder. For his efforts, it was only fitting that <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bucks-news-giannis-antetokounmpo-makes-promise-nba-cup">Antetokounmpo was crowned NBA Cup MVP</a>.</p><h2><b>4. 2020 NBA Defensive Player of the Year</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Giannis-Antetokounmpo-in-a-defensive-stance.jpg"><figcaption>Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Although Antetokounmpo is a force to be reckoned with offensively, the Greek Freak is also a menace on the defensive end. He cemented that during the 2019-20 season. Aside from winning his second-straight NBA MVP that year, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bucks-news-giannis-antetokounmpo-reacts-winning-defensive-player-of-the-year">Antetokounmpo was also crowned the NBA Defensive Player of the Year</a>.</p><p>Defensively, Giannis put up 1.0 steal and 1.0 block per game. Furthermore, he also led the league in defensive rating. As a result, Antetokounmpo is only one of three players to win NBA MVP, Finals MVP, and Defensive Player of the Year. The only other two players in that list are Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon.</p><h2><b>5. Bucks all-time leader in points, assists, rebounds, and blocks</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Giannis-Antetokounmpo-pushes-the-tempo.jpg"><figcaption>Michael McLoone-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The Bucks franchise saw many players dawn their uniform. Some of the notable greats include Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Ray Allen, and Oscar Robertson. But fast-forward to today, Milwaukee now enjoys the greatness of Giannis Antetokounmpo.</p><p>The two-time NBA MVP even surpassed the previous franchise greats in terms of points, assists, rebounds, and blocks in a Bucks jersey. Giannis has totaled 6,498 points, 7,996 rebounds, 3,996 assists, and 1,022 blocks.</p><h2><b>6. 2017 NBA Most Improved Player</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Giannis-Antetokounmpo-makes-a-reaction.jpg"><figcaption>Mark D. Smith-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Antetokounmpo came into the NBA as a scrawny kid from Greece. While he was just a raw prospect then, the Bucks patiently waited for him to develop into an MVP-caliber star. The Greek Freak certainly made the Bucks’ wait worth it, marking his breakout season in 2016-2017. During that season, Antetokounmpo averaged 22.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game.</p><h2><b>7. 64-point performance vs. Indiana Pacers</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Giannis-Antetokounmpo-dunks-the-ball.jpg"><figcaption>Benny Sieu-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>If you’re wondering what’s Antetokounmpo’s highest scoring game, the answer was set just last season. Although there was a <a href="https://www.espn.ph/nba/story/_/id/39109606/bucks-giannis-antetokounmpo-torches-pacers-career-best-64-points" rel="noopener">scuffle for the game ball</a> that marred his brilliance, no one can take away the fact that the Greek Freak exploded for a career-high 64 points in the 140-126 win over the Indiana Pacers.</p><p>He shot 20-of-28 from the field overall and added 14 rebounds to his name. His 64-point performance was also a Bucks franchise record, surpassing his previous record of 59.</p><h2><b>8. Eight All-NBA Team selections and All-Star appearances</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Giannis-Antetokounmpo-poses-with-the-All-Star-Game-MVP-trophy.jpg"><figcaption>Dale Zanine-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Since his breakout season, Antetokounmpo has established himself as one of the premier power forwards of the game. As a result, it isn’t a surprising that he has been a shoo-in in the past eight All-NBA Team selections. In addition to this, the Greek Freak is also a fixture during the NBA All-Star Game, having appeared in the festivities for the past eight editions.</p><h2><b>9. 2024 FIBA OQT MVP and Olympic flag bearer</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Giannis-Antetokounmpo-poses-with-the-flag-of-Greece.jpg"><figcaption>Andrew Nelles-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>In 2024, Antetokounmpo answered the call of national team duty. With the 2024 FIBA OQT held in Greece, the Greek Freak didn’t disappoint on his home turf. At the FIBA OQT, Giannis averaged 22.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game to be crowned the Tissot MVP.</p><p>But more importantly, his efforts paved the way for <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/olympics-news-giannis-antetokounmpo-strong-message-greece-paris-ticket">Greece to punch a ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics</a>. As a result, Antetokounmpo was named as the country’s flag bearer before making his Olympics debut.</p><h2><b>10. 2022 FIBA EuroBasket Top Scorer </b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Giannis-Antetokounmpo-in-action-for-Greece.jpg"><figcaption>Kyle Terada-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Two years after winning his second NBA MVP, it was only about time the European basketball scene felt the impact of Giannis Antetokounmpo.</p><p>At the 2022 FIBA EuroBasket, the Greek Freak dominated the tournament with a scoring average of 29.3 points per game, which is the highest among players in the competition. He also added 8.8 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game. Greece finished fifth.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Ranking Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 10 greatest accomplishments of his career

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/bucks-news-giannis-antetokounmpo-disbelief-milwaukee-not-playing-on-christmas-day');   ga('set', 'title', 'Giannis Antetokounmpo in disbelief over Bucks not playing on Christmas Day');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Bucks-news-Giannis-Antetokounmpo-in-disbelief-over-Milwaukee-not-playing-on-Christmas-Day.jpg"></figure><h1>Giannis Antetokounmpo in disbelief over Bucks not playing on Christmas Day</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-23T11:42:46-08:00">December 23rd, 11:42am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-23T12:36:30-08:00">December 23rd, 12:36pm</time><address><a>Ryan Bologna</a>Ryan Bologna is an author at ClutchPoints. He studied journalism and communication at UConn.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Milwaukee Bucks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Milwaukee Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo will not be featured in <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/why-nba-failed-2024-christmas-day-schedule">this year’s Christmas Day games</a> in the NBA, and the superstar player does not like that fact, but he believes that the NBA has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6008028/2024/12/23/bucks-giannis-antetokounmpo-nba-christmas-game-snub/" rel="noopener">some kind of algorithm</a> to determine the matchups and maximize viewership.</p><p>“I’m a little bit upset or kind of questioning it,” Giannis Antetokounmpo said via Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “But I really believe there’s probably an algorithm that takes place within the NBA that shows who is the most attractive team or which team gets the most attention for them to be able to play in the Christmas game.”</p><p>Antetokounmpo went on to say that the Bucks’ star power with him and Damian Lillard should be enough to get them a matchup on Christmas Day. Last year the Bucks visited the New York Knicks.</p><p>“There’s gotta be an algorithm because if it’s — how can I say — like a popularity contest, I can give you facts,” Antetokounmpo said. “You want me to? Two of the NBA All-Star starters, Dame (Lillard) and Giannis, and the All-Star MVP, right? And the No. 1 vote-getter — not in the East, in the whole NBA — is not in the Christmas game? What? No, it’s a fact. … The votes came out last year. I was the No. 1 Dame was a starter. I was a starter. Dame won the MVP. Dame won the three-point contest. Maybe that has nothing to do with it. I believe we were one of the best teams in the East last year. Maybe not this year, OK? We don’t get a Christmas game. Why? Because we got a small market? Maybe that’s the case. Or I want to believe that I tell you, I think there’s an algorithm within the NBA that they choose which team will get the most attention, the most viewership that day.”</p><h2><b>Should the Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo be featured on Christmas Day?</b></h2><p>The NBA’s Christmas Day matchups feature the San Antonio Spurs visiting the Knicks, the Minnesota Timberwolves playing the Dallas Mavericks, the Philadelphia 76ers playing the Boston Celtics, the Los Angeles Lakers playing the Golden State Warriors, and the Denver Nuggets playing the Phoenix Suns.</p><p>It is hard to argue many of these matchups. The Bucks playing the Knicks again would have been interesting, but it makes sense to see Victor Wembanyama on Christmas Day. Maybe the Bucks could have taken the Timberwolves or Mavericks’ spot. The 76ers and Celtics is a great rivalry matchup, while the Lakers and LeBron James against the Warriors and Stephen Curry always is a great game, and the Nuggets and Suns is a good Western Conference matchup.</p><p>Regardless, the Bucks can turn this into a reason to have a chip on their shoulder this season. They have already proven their worth as <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bucks-news-doc-rivers-brutally-honest-nba-cup-suggestion-adam-silver">the Bucks won NBA Cup</a>.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Giannis Antetokounmpo in disbelief over Bucks not playing on Christmas Day

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/bucks-news-giannis-antetokounmpo-khris-middleton-final-injury-updates-wizards-clash');   ga('set', 'title', 'Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton get final injury updates for Wizards clash');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_1119.jpeg"></figure><h1>Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton get final injury updates for Wizards clash</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-21T16:44:15-08:00">December 21st, 4:44pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-21T16:44:15-08:00">December 21st, 4:44pm</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David Yapkowitz is an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is a credentialed reporter based in Los Angeles who covers the NBA/WNBA, NCAA/NCAAW and boys/girls high school basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Milwaukee Bucks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Milwaukee <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bucks-news-fans-go-wild-milwaukee-nba-cup-dominance-vs-thunder">Bucks have turned their season around following their NBA Cup win</a>. Since then, the Bucks have gone 0-1 coming into their Saturday matchup against the Washington Wizards. The Bucks are set to be a little short-handed against the Wizards with a key injury update. Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo <a href="https://x.com/Bucks/status/1870621782169801149" rel="noopener">was ruled out</a> on the Bucks injury list, the team announced. But Khris Middleton was upgraded to available.</p><p>Giannis Antetokoumpo was ruled out due to a back injury, while Middleton is still ramping up to game shape after his return from offseason ankle surgery. The Bucks will also be without Damian Lillard who also missed the team’s loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in their first game since the NBA Cup. Lillard is dealing with a calf injury.</p><p>This will be only the third missed game this season for Antetokounmpo. Despite rumored possible trade pursuits from other teams, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-bucks-giannis-antetokounmpo-not-seeking-trade">Antetokounmpo reportedly has no desire to be traded</a>. In the 24 games he’s suited up in this season, he’s been averaging a league-leading 32.7 points, 11.6 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.5 blocked shots. He’s shooting 61.3 percent from the field.</p><p>In Khris Middleton’s case, he missed the first 21 games of the 2024-25 season as he continued his recovery from offseason surgery. He’s played in five games since he’s returned to the lineup, although he’s been coming off the bench.</p><p>In the five games that Middleton’s played in, he’s been averaging 8.4 points, 3.0 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.2 steals with splits of 30.8 percent shooting from the field, 28.6 percent shooting from the three-point line and 82.4 percent shooting from the free-throw line. Middleton’s percentages are obviously concerning, but they should even out as he continues to feel more comfortable and up to game speed.</p><p>The Bucks began the season at 2-8 despite the general consensus penning them as a potential contender in the Eastern Conference. But the Bucks have managed to regroup and change the trajectory of their season. They are currently 14-12 and fifth place in the East. They’ve gone 7-3 in their last ten games.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton get final injury updates for Wizards clash

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/bucks-news-brook-lopez-bobby-portis-reveal-scary-giannis-antetokounmpo-fact-after-nba-cup-win');   ga('set', 'title', 'Bucks’ Brook Lopez, Bobby Portis reveal scary Giannis Antetokounmpo fact after NBA Cup win');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Giannis-Antetokounmpo-Milwaukee-Bucks-NBA-Cup-Bobby-Portis-Brook-Lopez.jpg"></figure><h1>Bucks’ Brook Lopez, Bobby Portis reveal scary Giannis Antetokounmpo fact after NBA Cup win</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-20T14:26:27-08:00">December 20th, 2:26pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-20T14:34:47-08:00">December 20th, 2:34pm</time><address><a>Tomer Azarly</a>Tomer Azarly is in his ninth season as the LA Clippers beat writer and NBA reporter for ClutchPoints. From the Lob City era to the Kawhi Leonard-Paul George era, he brings you everything you need to know about the Clippers as well as coast-to-coast coverage of the NBA.In his off time, Tomer likes to play basketball, video games, and draw.You can follow his Twitter for all Clippers content.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>LAS VEGAS, NV — Giannis Antetokounmpo, Brook Lopez, Bobby Portis, and the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bucks-news-brook-lopez-leaving-las-vegas-500000-draws-hilarious-response">win the NBA Cup</a> on Tuesday night, finishing the job they were unable to last season.</p><p>But this version of Antetokounmpo appears to be different than any we’ve seen of him before. He’s still the dominant “Greek Freak” everyone around the world knows, but the two-time MVP and NBA Finals MVP appears to have improved remarkably at age 30.</p><h2><b>Brook Lopez, Bobby Portis on Giannis Antetokounmpo after NBA Cup win</b></h2><p>Through the first quarter of the season, Giannis Antetokounmpo is averaging a career-high and league-leading 32.7 points per game on a career-high 61.4 percent shooting from the field.</p><p>“He’s just always hungry, he’s never complacent, and he’s never plateaued,” Brook Lopez told ClutchPoints after the Bucks’ NBA Cup win. “He’s the best player in the world and he’s always trying to get better. Every offseason, every day. Aside from all the talent, all the amazing plays he makes, just to see how hard he plays, how he gets on the floor, the way he goes after blocked shots, rebounds, making all the hustle plays. You just have to follow his lead.”</p><p>Through 25 games, Antetokounmpo is taking fewer than one three-pointer per game (0.7) for only the second time in his career, the first of which came in his sophomore season when he took 0.5 per game.</p><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Giannis-Antetokounpo-drives-against-Alex-Caruso-during-the-Bucks-Thunder-NBA-Cup-final.jpg"><figcaption>Kyle Terada-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>However, three-pointers are taking up just 3.5 percent of Giannis’ shots, which is down from 9.1 percent last year and is by far the lowest three-point volume of his NBA career.</p><p>The Bucks’ star also leads the league in points in the paint at 21.5 points per game, which if over four points higher than second place Nikola Jokic at 17.3 paint points per game.</p><p>“I mean, he’s only ever gotten better,” Brook Lopez added to ClutchPoints. “In his career in the NBA and obviously since I’ve been here as well, he’s never gotten complacent, he’s the best player in the world, he’s always trying to reach that next level, and he always does. It’s truly, truly inspirational, its really amazing.”</p><p>Going into this past summer, head coach Doc Rivers told his superstar that he wants to play him more out of the elbow in post-up and face-up situations. The team struggled out of the gate, losing eight of their first 10 games and sending everyone but the team into a frenzy.</p><p>Since then, however, the Bucks have won 13 of their last 16 games, including the NBA Cup final against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Giannis, who has not shot under 50 percent or scored under 20 points even once this season, has been a significant part of the Bucks turnaround.</p><p>Antetokounmpo has been leading the NBA in points in the paint per game for three seasons in a row, and in six of the last eight seasons, but he’s taken a personal jump in each of the last four seasons (<a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/misc?Season=2024-25&amp;dir=A&amp;sort=PTS_PAINT" rel="noopener">via NBA.com/stats</a>):</p><p>• 21.5 paint points in 2024-25 (1st)<br>• 20.3 paint points in 2023-24 (1st)<br>• 18.8 paint points in 2022-23 (1st)<br>• 15.9 paint points in 2021-22 (3rd, behind Ja Morant, Nikola Jokic)<br>• 16.7 paint points in 2020-21 (2nd, behind Zion Williamson)<br>• 17.5 paint points in 2019-20 (1st)<br>• 17.5 paint points in 2018-19 (1st)<br>• 15.7 paint points in 2017-18 (1st)</p><p>Additionally, Antetokounmpo is now taking 56.4 percent of his shots from inside of three feet, which is also up for four consecutive seasons. <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/a/antetgi01.html">According to Stathead</a>, here is Antetokounmpo’s shot volume from 0-3 feet in the last four seasons:</p><p>• 40.6 percent in 2021-22<br>• 48.0 percent in 2022-23<br>• 51.9 percent in 2023-24<br>• 56.4 percent in 2024-25</p><p>It’s also no coincidence that as his points in the paint totals increase over the last four seasons, the volume of three-point shooting by Giannis has also decreased as well. In 2019-20, three-pointers made up 23.7 percent of Antetokounmpo’s shot volume. <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/a/antetgi01.html" rel="noopener">According to Stathead</a>, that number has decreased significantly year over year since.</p><p>• 23.7 percent in 2019-20<br>• 20.1 percent in 2020-21<br>• 19.4 percent in 2021-21<br>• 13.4 percent in 2022-23<br>• 9.1 percent in 2023-24<br>• 3.5 percent in 2024-25</p><p>Simply put, the Bucks’ star is no longer taking three-pointers and is playing from the elbow as well as in the paint much more.</p><p>Giannis Antetokounmpo admitted that playing out of the elbow is something he’s needed some time to transition into, especially as the team incorporates Damian Lillard more and welcomes back Khris Middleton from injury. But Giannis has seen his success grow throughout the early portions of this season.</p><p>“I’ll be honest, in the beginning, I’ve never initiated my offense from the elbow or from the high post,” Antetokounmpo said after the NBA Cup win. “Usually, it’s in transition or in the screen and roll, so it was kind of a weird transition. I had the conversation with Doc and he told me it can be very, very effective when you’re at the elbow, you’re under the wall. It’s very hard for people to show crowds. And then when they show crowds, it’s easier for you to make that pass and you’re one step closer to the basket.</p><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Giannis-Antetokounmpo-celebrates-after-the-Bucks-Thunder-NBA-Cup-final-1.jpg"><figcaption>Kyle Terada-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>“This whole summer, I was working on that and it’s not only about scoring. There’s levels to it. sometimes, you can facilitate, you can make the hockey assists to [Gary Trent Jr.] for the open three, you can create shots for yourself, you can get to the free throw line, but I think it just allowed me to be a little bit more effective down there and allows me to help my teammates be great. It’s something new for me. I’ve played in the elbow for 25 games. I think I will stay there for the rest of my career because I’m getting better. I’m getting better at it.”</p><p>Both Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis add that Antetokounmpo’s growth has come both on and off the basketball court.</p><p>“He’s just getting better every year,” Bobby Portis also told ClutchPoints after the NBA Cup. “It seems like [he does] every year I play with him. This is my fifth year playing with him now and every year I’ve played with him, I’ve seen him go to another level. Not just on the court, but as a leader. Like I said, my first four years I’ve played, he was more of a lead by example type of guy. Now he’s more of a vocal leader, telling guys what to do, where to be, pouring confidence into his teammates. I love this version of him.”</p><p>The Bucks didn’t celebrate their NBA Cup win with champagne, beer, and goggles like the Los Angeles Lakers did last season. Instead, the team took a very Giannis-like approach, enjoying the moment but remaining focused on the remainder of the regular season.</p><p>Damian Lillard is playing a big part in the Bucks run. Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis know what they need to do in order to win a second NBA Championship.</p><p>But Milwaukee will only go as far as Giannis Antetokounmpo is able to take them, and his newfound usage is already proving to be a difference maker. </p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Bucks’ Brook Lopez, Bobby Portis reveal scary Giannis Antetokounmpo fact after NBA Cup win

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/cavs-news-max-strus-regular-season-debut-against-bucks');   ga('set', 'title', 'Cavs could see Max Strus make regular season debut against Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Cavs-news-Cleveland-could-see-Max-Strus-make-regular-season-debut-against-Giannis-Antetokounmpo-Bucks.jpg"></figure><h1>Cavs could see Max Strus make regular season debut against Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-20T09:17:52-08:00">December 20th, 9:17am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-20T09:17:52-08:00">December 20th, 9:17am</time><address><a href="https://www.downeuclid.com">Evan Dammarell</a>Evan Dammarell is an award-winning sports journalist covering all things Cleveland, including the Cavs, right off the shores of Lake Erie. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Cavaliers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Riding high after an extended siesta, the still injury-riddled Cleveland Cavaliers will return to action <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bucks-vs-cavaliers-prediction-odds-pick-12-20-2024">when Cleveland takes on</a> the Milwaukee Bucks at home. Last time out, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/cavs-news-kenny-atkinson-calls-bench-star-invaluable">the Cavs defeated</a> the Brooklyn Nets 130-101. The Bucks, meanwhile, just won the 2024 NBA Cup and <a href="https://x.com/Bucks/status/1869232529045397587" rel="noopener">are one of the hottest teams</a> in the NBA.</p><p>This will be the third of four meetings between the Cavs and Bucks this year. Both sides last met in Cleveland, with the Cavs winning 116-114. It was a tough, gritty matchup between two of the Eastern Conference’s best. Cleveland should expect a Milwaukee team looking for revenge in this matchup, especially after making a statement by winning the 2024 NBA Cup.</p><p>So, while the Bucks will be looking for revenge, they’ll also have a massive target on their back after winning the NBA Cup. Unfortunately, both teams are <a href="https://ak-static.cms.nba.com/referee/injury/Injury-Report_2024-12-20_09AM.pdf" rel="noopener">dealing with numerous injuries</a> heading into this matchup, making this a grind for either side.</p><h2><b>Who is unavailable for the Bucks against Cleveland?</b></h2><p>Against the Cavs, the Bucks will be without Damian Lillard (calf), AJ Johnson (NBA G League assignment), Chris Livingston (NBA G League assignment), and Tyler Smith (NBA G League assignment).</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bucks-news-damian-lillard-status-nba-cup-championship-amid-calf-injury">Lillard has been dealing with calf discomfort for a while</a>, and Milwaukee has elected to rest him against Cleveland. Last year, Lillard strained his right Achilles tendon late in the season and missed several playoff games against Indiana. He also strained the soleus in his right calf while playing for the Portland Trail Blazers in 2022.</p><p>Meanwhile, Giannis Antetokounmpo (patella) and Khris Middleton (illness) are probable for the Bucks against the Cavs. Antetokounmpo has been dealing with patellar soreness since training camp, making his availability game-by-game. Middleton, meanwhile, missed the NBA Cup Championship game due to a nagging, non-COVID-related illness. However, Middleton has recovered and should be available when the Bucks take on the Cavs in Cleveland.</p><h2><b>Will Max Strus return from injury and make his Cavs regular season debut against the Bucks?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Max-Strus-defends-Cavs-Bucks.jpg"><figcaption>Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Like the Bucks, the Cavs will be without a key contributor. Cleveland forward Isaac Okoro <a href="https://x.com/cavs/status/1869793126019428664" rel="noopener">recently suffered a right AC joint strain</a> in the Cavs’ win over the Brooklyn Nets. Okoro is expected to miss at least the next two weeks, where he’ll be re-evaluated.</p><p>Losing Okoro is a significant blow to an already thin Cavs wing rotation. Okoro is having a strong season in his fifth year in the league, shooting 49.5% from the field and 49.2% from deep – both career-highs. His perimeter defense remains his best asset, but the ability (or inability) to hit shots is what Cavs fans have taken umbrage with. Okoro has excelled on both sides of the ball this season, which makes the injury much more discouraging.</p><p>A silver lining in the Okoro-sized cloud hanging over Cleveland is that sharpshooter Max Strus could make his much-anticipated regular-season debut. After missing most of the preseason with a hip injury, Strus has also missed 27 consecutive regular-season contests with a nagging ankle injury. However, after working his way back to the court, Strus is considered questionable and will likely be a game-time decision.</p><p>Strus was able to practice with the team on Wednesday and Thursday. How Strus responds to the increased activity will determine whether he can play in either or both of the Cavaliers’ games this weekend.</p><p>“Super,” said head coach Kenny Atkinson when asked about how Strus looked in practice. “Feedback was really good today. I’d say we had a moderate practice. He got through it fine. Now, what does it look like when he wakes up? That’s really going to be the trigger on what happens in the next two games. He looked phenomenal the last two days.”</p><p>Strus has seemed like a perfect fit for the Cavs’ offense, which is currently the second-best in the league. His shooting and cutting should amplify what has already been a potent attack. So, although Okoro is sidelined, Cleveland getting Strus back is a bittersweet reward.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Cavs could see Max Strus make regular season debut against Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/bucks-news-doc-rivers-gets-real-amazing-opportunity-coach-giannis-antetokounmpo');   ga('set', 'title', 'Bucks’ Doc Rivers gets real on ‘amazing’ opportunity to coach Giannis Antetokounmpo');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Bucks-news-Doc-Rivers-gets-real-on-amazing-opportunity-to-coach-Giannis-Antetokounmpo.jpg"></figure><h1>Bucks’ Doc Rivers gets real on ‘amazing’ opportunity to coach Giannis Antetokounmpo</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-18T12:04:12-08:00">December 18th, 12:04pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-18T12:04:12-08:00">December 18th, 12:04pm</time><address><a>Jackson Stone</a>Jackson Stone is a Mercer University senior from Atlanta on track to graduate with a BA in communications. A lifelong sports lover, Jackson is a die-hard fan of all Atlanta teams. He joined ClutchPoints in 2023.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Milwaukee Bucks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>On Tuesday evening, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bucks-news-giannis-antetokounmpo-makes-promise-nba-cup">Milwaukee Bucks won</a> the NBA’s second annual NBA Cup with a dominant victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Las Vegas. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bucks-news-giannis-antetokounmpo-reveals-nba-cup-winnings-already-gone">Giannis Antetokounmpo once again</a> played like an MVP candidate, and the Bucks’ defense held a talented Thunder squad in check throughout the evening.</p><p>The win has to feel especially good for head coach Doc Rivers, who came under heavy scrutiny in the early juncture of this season after the Bucks’ slow start but has since helped guide the team back up the Eastern Conference standings.</p><p>Recently, Rivers got <a href="https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/1869435296644776016" rel="noopener">one hundred percent honest</a> on just how special of a privilege it is to coach a player like Antetokounmpo, per Brett Siegel.</p><p>“I mean, a 10, right?” said Rivers when asked how he would rank the opportunity to coach Antetokounmpo on a scale of 1-10. “That opportunity to coach a Giannis, to coach a [Damian Lillard], to see that group, a veteran group, it’s an amazing opportunity for a coach. This group allows you to coach them, they really do. They let you coach them hard. Nobody takes anything personal. I even said it last year, it was like coaching grownups if you know what I mean. They really get that. They get that you have to tell them the truth and they handle it, and that’s been great.”</p><h2><b>An impressive turnaround for the Bucks</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Antetokounmpo-celebrates.jpg"><figcaption>Kyle Terada-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>As previously mentioned, the Bucks didn’t exactly get off to a blazing start this season, beginning the year 2-8 and quickly finding themselves behind the eight ball in the standings.</p><p>However, Milwaukee has since appeared to figure some things out, seeing much more synergy between Antetokounmpo and Lillard and also getting some help from their wing shooters like Taurean Prince and Gary Trent Jr.</p><p>While winning the NBA Cup may not be the ultimate goal for this or any team, it was still a nice symbol of just how far the Bucks have come in such a short time that they were able to make such easy work of a team as talented as the Thunder.</p><p>The Bucks will now forge ahead with newly instilled confidence and a version of Antetokounmpo that seems to be playing the best basketball of his Hall of Fame career.</p><p>Up next for the Bucks is a road game vs the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday evening. That game is scheduled to tip off at 7:30 PM ET.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Bucks’ Doc Rivers gets real on ‘amazing’ opportunity to coach Giannis Antetokounmpo

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/bucks-news-giannis-antetokounmpo-makes-promise-nba-cup');   ga('set', 'title', 'Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo makes ‘promise’ after winning NBA Cup MVP');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Bucks-news-Giannis-Antetokounmpo-makes-promise-after-winning-NBA-Cup-MVP.jpg"></figure><h1>Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo makes ‘promise’ after winning NBA Cup MVP</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-18T08:28:41-08:00">December 18th, 8:28am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-18T08:28:41-08:00">December 18th, 8:28am</time><address><a href="https://www.downeuclid.com">Evan Dammarell</a>Evan Dammarell is an award-winning sports journalist covering all things Cleveland, including the Cavs, right off the shores of Lake Erie. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Milwaukee Bucks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Milwaukee Bucks had a thrilling run toward winning the franchise’s first-ever NBA Cup championship. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bucks-news-fans-go-wild-milwaukee-nba-cup-dominance-vs-thunder">Milwaukee thrilled fans</a> in their dominant 97-81 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder. However, this victory was <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bucks-news-damian-lillard-message-early-season-critics-nba-cup-win">more than an in-season championship run for Milwaukee</a>. For NBA Cup MVP Giannis Antetokoumpo, it was about <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/43033645/giannis-antetokounmpo-carries-red-hot-bucks-nba-cup-title" rel="noopener">sending a statement</a> to the rest of the league.</p><p>“Oh man, what a feeling,” he said. “What a great feeling. I’ll see you guys again, I promise.”</p><p>Walking down the hallway toward the locker room, Antekounmpo continued: “What a great feeling. What a great feeling.”</p><p>Milwaukee’s celebrations only went so far, as it has a more important trophy in mind: the Larry O’Brien Trophy. The Bucks left the boxes of champagne provided by the NBA untouched after their NBA Cup win. Instead, they skipped the traditional postgame locker room celebration for a more subdued scene, with players bopping along to music and sipping drinks at their locker.</p><p>“Last time I drank a little bit of champagne when we won the championship [in 2021], I had like a full body cramp,” Antetokounmpo said with a laugh.</p><p>While the Bucks <a href="https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/1869245583833387484" rel="noopener">elected to skip the celebration</a>, that does not mean they didn’t savor the moment. Instead, Antetokounmpo, who said he does not drink, implored the team to celebrate the accomplishment.</p><p>“There has to be,” he said. “This has been a great trip. This has been a trip for six days. Everybody has been locked in, on time for the film sessions, so focused on the walk-throughs. At practice, we were able to be so sharp.”</p><h2><b>What’s next for the Bucks after winning the 2024 NBA Cup?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Giannis-celebrates-NBA-Cup.jpg"><figcaption>Ward-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Milwaukee will have a few days of rest before they resume their regular season grind against their next opponent: the Cleveland Cavaliers. While Antetokounmpo is encouraging his teammates to celebrate, he also has stressed the importance of maintaining their championship standard when their regular season picks back up.</p><p>“We have just got to stay humble, keep on improving,” Antetokounmpo said. “We have a lot of basketball in front of us. We play Cleveland on Friday. Very, very good team. They are going to be waiting for us. Right now, the emotion is at an all-time high. We have to bring it down, be humble. Once we leave here tomorrow, go back to the gym, lock-in, and hopefully, we can go and get a win against the Cavs.”</p><p>Since winning only two of their first 10 games, the Bucks have the best record in the NBA at 12-3. But with the NBA Cup to their name, Milwaukee has a bigger target on their back. When their regular season resumes, the Bucks have to continue playing to their NBA Cup standards so that way they can win it all in the NBA Finals.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo makes ‘promise’ after winning NBA Cup MVP

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/bucks-news-espn-clowned-giannis-antetokounmpo-post-nba-cup');   ga('set', 'title', 'ESPN clowned for Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo post after NBA Cup win');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/ESPN-clowned-for-Giannis-Antetokounmpo-post-after-NBA-Cup-win.jpg"></figure><h1>ESPN clowned for Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo post after NBA Cup win</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-18T06:52:23-08:00">December 18th, 6:52am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-18T06:52:23-08:00">December 18th, 6:52am</time><address><a>Malik Brown</a>Malik Brown is a multimedia reporter based in Atlanta who covers the Hawks and Dream for ClutchPoints. Malik has worked in entertainment and sports, and he specializes in the NBA and NFL.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Milwaukee Bucks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Milwaukee <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bucks-news-giannis-antetokounmpo-damian-lillard-attention-nba-cup">Bucks defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder</a> to become NBA Cup champions, and they were led by the dominant play of Giannis Antetokounmpo, who finished the game with 26 points, 19 rebounds, 10 assists, three blocks, and two steals. After the game, ESPN was clowned by fans after they posted a caption of Antetokounmpo saying, “Job is done.”</p><p>Many <a href="https://x.com/TiWindisch/status/1869383004612972998" rel="noopener">people were upset</a> because they watched a video of Antetokounpo talking after the win, and he repeatedly said, “Job’s not done.”</p><p>“This is still up?? Embarrassing! I wish the job was finished for ESPN of ever talking about the Bucks again because it just gets worse and worse every time somehow,” one user said on X, formerly Twitter.</p><p>Some people didn’t realize that Antetokounmpo said, “Job is done” while walking to the locker room.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"JOB. IS. DONE."</p><p>– <a href="https://twitter.com/Giannis_An34?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Giannis_An34</a> <a href="https://t.co/1v89bIQMqj">https://t.co/1v89bIQMqj</a> <a href="https://t.co/CyEvBEzAx5">pic.twitter.com/CyEvBEzAx5</a></p><p>— NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1869237929652236541?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 18, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>At this point, the fans have to take some accountability, and hopefully, they can see the video where he says the quote. Meanwhile, Antetokounmpo and the Bucks probably don’t care what’s happening on the internet because they’re celebrating.</p><h2>Bucks defeat Thunder to win NBA Cup</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Giannis-Antetokounmpo.jpg"><figcaption>Kyle Terada-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The Bucks had to go through some tough teams to get to the Cup, which included the Orlando Magic and the Atlanta Hawks, but they were able to get the job done. The Thunder have been one of the hottest teams in the league, but the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bucks-news-fans-go-wild-milwaukee-nba-cup-dominance-vs-thunder">Bucks dominated them</a> in the second half and were able to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/dec/18/nba-cup-final-milwaukee-bucks-oklahoma-city-thunder" rel="noopener">cruise to a victory</a>.</p><p>“It’s great, it’s great for our team,” Giannis Antetokounmpo said after the game. “We’re getting better. … We know we’re leaving Vegas as a better team. I’m so proud of this group. Man, I’m so proud of this group.”</p><p>“We struggled coming out of the gates,” head coach Doc Rivers said. “No one here doubted what we can be and who we can be and we just hung in there. We stuck together and this is the byproduct of a team sticking together. But we still have work to do.”</p><p>The job is not done for the Bucks, and it’s evident that they have bigger plans for the season. The main objective is to win the NBA championship, and this could be good motivation for them throughout the season. This win shows that they have the right pieces, they just have to come together, stay healthy, and play their game. Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard showed that they’re a dangerous duo, and when they can play well off of each other, it’s going to be hard to beat them.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

ESPN clowned for Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo post after NBA Cup win

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/bucks-news-giannis-antetokounmpo-powerful-message-thanasis-amid-success');   ga('set', 'title', 'Giannis Antetokounmpo sends powerful message to Thanasis amid NBA success');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Bucks-news-Giannis-Antetokounmpo-sends-powerful-message-to-Thanasis-amid-NBA-success.jpg"></figure><h1>Giannis Antetokounmpo sends powerful message to Thanasis amid NBA success</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-18T00:00:51-08:00">December 18th, 12:00am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-18T00:01:23-08:00">December 18th, 12:01am</time><address><a>Alex House</a>Alex House is a sports journalist who covers the NFL, NBA, and MLB for ClutchPoints. He grew up in a New York sports-heavy region in Connecticut and earned his journalism degree at the University of Rhode Island. His in-depth knowledge of two of the most passionate and raucous fan bases in the country gives him a truly unique writing voice.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Milwaukee Bucks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Giannis Antetokounmpo likes to keep his personal life private, but Milwaukee Bucks fans are well aware of how much the 30-year-old superstar values his family. He has used his elite standing within the sports world to help those who matter most to him, including his brothers.</p><p>After <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bucks-news-fans-go-wild-milwaukee-nba-cup-dominance-vs-thunder">leading the Bucks to a 97-81 win</a> over the Oklahoma City Thunder in <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bucks-news-giannis-antetokounmpo-damian-lillard-attention-nba-cup">the NBA Cup Championship</a>, the Greek Freak quickly beckoned his older brother and former teammate, Thanasis Antetokounmpo. The two men shared an emotional moment, one that powerfully depicts the long road they have traveled together in both life and basketball.</p><p>The NBA Cup MVP <a href="https://x.com/NBA/status/1869261439015551230" rel="noopener">explained why he sought out his brother</a> in the immediate aftermath of Milwaukee’s notable feat.</p><p>“From where he started {to} where we are, I’m extremely happy {and} proud of the journey,” Antetokounmpo told reporters after stuffing the stat sheet in T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday night. “I don’t take no moment for granted and I just had to embrace my brother, celebrate him. He’s been supporting me since Day 1. Not just my basketball career, just as a brother. He’s always been there for me…. So, I have to embrace my brother. I love him to death.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"He's been supporting me since Day 1. Not just my basketball career…"</p><p>The Giannis and Thanasis brotherhood 🫶 <a href="https://t.co/PsB0bQ23tP">pic.twitter.com/PsB0bQ23tP</a></p><p>— NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1869261439015551230?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 18, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Giannis expresses gratitude after Bucks’ NBA Cup victory</b></h2><p>Giannis Antetokounmpo seems to have his priorities in order. Despite the accolades and fortune, he remembers where he came from, and with whom he started. Giannis and Thanasis played on the same team in Greece more than a decade ago and then celebrated an NBA championship together in 2021. Their unbreakable bond has touched many fans and is a joyful reminder that fame does not always corrupt family relationships.</p><p>Antetokounmpo was masterful against the Thunder, recording a game-high 26 points on 10-of-19 shooting to go with a whopping 19 rebounds, 10 assists, three blocks and two steals. But neither his monster effort, the NBA Cup nor the frenzied atmosphere of Las Vegas could distract him from seeking out his brother.</p><p>Thanasis Antetokounmpo, a free agent, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bucks-news-giannis-antetokounmpo-brother-retirement-rumors-achilles-injury">is currently recovering</a> from a torn Achilles tendon. He will not have a chance to play again until 2025. When adversity piles up, karma ideally comes around. Giannis is acknowledging the lasting impact his brother has had on his life, right in the thick of the holiday season.</p><p>The Antetokounmpo brothers hope they get the opportunity to experience another surreal moment together on a basketball court during the 2024-25 campaign.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Giannis Antetokounmpo sends powerful message to Thanasis amid NBA success

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/bucks-news-giannis-antetokounmpo-damian-lillard-attention-nba-cup');   ga('set', 'title', 'Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard grab attention with NBA Cup moment');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Bucks-news-Giannis-Antetokounmpo-Damian-Lillard-grabs-attention-with-NBA-Cup-moment.jpg"></figure><h1>Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard grab attention with NBA Cup moment</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-17T21:20:42-08:00">December 17th, 9:20pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-17T21:20:42-08:00">December 17th, 9:20pm</time><address><a>Troy Finnegan</a>Troy Finnegan is an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2023 with a degree in journalism and minors in communications and sports media, as well as a critical sports studies certificate. He has had a passion for sports his entire life, and enjoys covering and writing about all sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Milwaukee Bucks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bucks-news-milwaukee-nba-cup-win-leads-to-all-sorts-of-darvin-ham-jokes">Milwaukee Bucks became the champions of the second annual NBA Cup</a> on Tuesday night, knocking off the Oklahoma City Thunder in the championship game 97-81. With the win, each Bucks player gets a $500,000 bonus, which is a huge chunk of money for some of the younger players and guys at the end of the bench who don’t make eight-figure salaries.</p><p>For the stars, like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, the extra money doesn’t mean as much, but they still got the job done for their teammates and to add another trophy to the trophy case. After the game, the two pillars of this Bucks team <a href="https://x.com/ESPNNBA/status/1869234601014477065" rel="noopener">shared an emotional moment</a> together.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Dame and Giannis embrace 💚 <a href="https://t.co/XSAeSHnrog">pic.twitter.com/XSAeSHnrog</a></p><p>— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNNBA/status/1869234601014477065?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 18, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>After the moment aired on television, Bucks fans and <a href="https://x.com/andrewgravess/status/1869235274183819272" rel="noopener">fans all around</a> the NBA were <a href="https://x.com/Dept94Feet/status/1869236601144119600" rel="noopener">gushing about the two stars</a> on social media.</p><p>“Just a warm up for when we get Giannis his 2nd ring and Dame his first,” one fan posted on X, formerly Twitter. Another added, “Man I hope they make a run at the real one together.”</p><p>While the two stars had a good night — Lillard had 23 points and made five 3-pointers while Antetokounmpo had a 26-point, 19-rebound, 10-assists triple-double — the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bucks-news-damian-lillard-plan-nba-cup-winnings">Bucks won this game with their defense</a>. After taking a 51-50 lead into halftime, the Bucks held the Thunder to just 31 points in the second half while they pulled away on the other end to secure the win.</p><p>The Thunder came into this one with an NBA-best +12.1 point differential on a per game basis, but their offense could never find any footing in this one. Oklahoma City finished this game just 5-for-32 from three and shot under 34% from the field as a team. Despite turning the ball over just 10 times, the Thunder had no answers for this suffocating Bucks defense.</p><p>Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had one of his worst games of the season as the Bucks threw a multitude of bodies at him and made life difficult for the Thunder superstar all night long. He finished the game just 8-for-24 for 21 points, marking his first game with less than 25 points since Nov. 10. 21 points is his lowest total since Oct. 30 against the San Antonio Spurs.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard grab attention with NBA Cup moment

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/bucks-news-giannis-antetokounmpo-trade-possibility-shut-down-shams-charania');   ga('set', 'title', 'Giannis Antetokounmpo trade possibility shut down by Shams Charania');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Bucks-news-Giannis-Antetokounmpo-trade-possibility-shut-down-by-Shams-Charania.jpg"></figure><h1>Giannis Antetokounmpo trade possibility shut down by Shams Charania</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-17T19:11:45-08:00">December 17th, 7:11pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-17T19:12:11-08:00">December 17th, 7:12pm</time><address><a>Alex House</a>Alex House is a sports journalist who covers the NFL, NBA, and MLB for ClutchPoints. He grew up in a New York sports-heavy region in Connecticut and earned his journalism degree at the University of Rhode Island. His in-depth knowledge of two of the most passionate and raucous fan bases in the country gives him a truly unique writing voice.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Milwaukee Bucks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Giannis Antetokounmpo, in his own words, is <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bucks-news-giannis-antetokounmpo-drops-nsfw-admission-on-legacy">hoping to add to his legacy</a> by winning the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bucks-news-damian-lillard-nba-cup-moment-giannis-loved">2024 NBA Cup</a>. No matter how the title game versus the Oklahoma City Thunder shakes out, he will have the opportunity to share in more hoops glory with the Milwaukee Bucks.</p><p>Although few people expect the former Finals MVP to be playing for another team this season, one of the league’s most distinguished insiders is <a href="https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/1869193781121298896" rel="noopener">definitively ruling out that possibility</a>.</p><p>“There will be no Giannis Antetokounmpo trade this season,” ESPN’s Shams Charania said on air before Bucks-Thunder tipped off in T-Mobile Arena. “Between the Cup and moving forward… his priority is putting himself in a position where he can have long-term sustained winning wherever that may be. Right now, it’s Milwaukee.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"There will be no Giannis Antetokounmpo trade this season. Between the Cup &amp; moving forward… his priority is putting himself in a position where he can have long-term sustained winning wherever that may be. Right now, it's Milwaukee."</p><p>—Shams Charania<a href="https://t.co/uTLC1vgCgR">pic.twitter.com/uTLC1vgCgR</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1869193781121298896?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 18, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Things were looking bleak for Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks</b></h2><p>Many fans will find Charania’s statement to be unnecessary, considering the Bucks are one of the hottest squads in the NBA, but there was a time when Antetokounmpo was on the radar of several front office executives. Milwaukee stumbled to a 2-8 start in the 2024-25 campaign, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bucks-news-doc-rivers-defiant-nsfw-message-outside-world-amid-turnaround">magnifying the speculation</a> that arose after back-to-back disappointing finishes in the playoffs. The face of the franchise was bogged down in uncertainty.</p><p>It might be tough to visualize his immediate future if the team was still struggling this season. He has remained loyal to the Bucks, though, and wants to lead them to another championship. Antetokounmpo is performing at an incredibly dominant level, posting 32.7 points, 11.5 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.6 blocks per game while shooting 61.4 percent. His unyielding brilliance has given Milwaukee enough time to figure things out. The squad is now 14-11 and only one and a half games clear of third place in the Eastern Conference.</p><p>The NBA Cup would be nice, but the Larry O’Brien Trophy is the prize that can launch Antetokounmpo into a truly special place in basketball history. The two-time MVP and 2020 Defensive Player of the Year is trusting that he, Damian Lillard and the rest of the Doc Rivers-coached team can reach their full potential next summer.</p><p>Thankfully, the Fiserv Forum fanatics can look that far ahead and know that Giannis Antetokounmpo will be wearing a No. 34 Bucks uniform. The more this group accomplishes, the less likely it is that trade rumors will surface.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Giannis Antetokounmpo trade possibility shut down by Shams Charania

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/bucks-news-giannis-antetokounmpo-damian-lillard-nba-cup-injury-report');   ga('set', 'title', 'Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard available vs. Thunder in NBA Cup Finals');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Giannis-Antetokounmpo-Damian-Lillard-working-to-return-in-Game-6-vs.-Pacers.jpg"></figure><h1>Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard available vs. Thunder in NBA Cup Finals</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-17T15:45:38-08:00">December 17th, 3:45pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-17T15:53:36-08:00">December 17th, 3:53pm</time><address><a href="https://www.facebook.com/joey.mistretta/" rel="facebook">Joey Mistretta</a>Joey Mistretta is a Dallas Mavericks beat reporter, Dallas Wings beat reporter and lead MLB editor for ClutchPoints. He is originally from Lake Arrowhead, California. Mistretta graduated from Biola University with a degree in broadcast journalism.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Milwaukee Bucks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-mvp-take-nba-cup-showdown-giannis-bucks">Milwaukee Bucks and Oklahoma City Thunder will go head-to-head in the NBA Cup Finals</a> on Tuesday night in Las Vegas. It projects to be a competitive affair, but Milwaukee has multiple injury concerns to monitor. Giannis Antetokounmpo and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bucks-news-damian-lillard-status-nba-cup-championship-amid-calf-injury">Damian Lillard are among the Bucks dealing with injuries</a> heading into Tuesday’s game.</p><p>Lillard <a href="https://ak-static.cms.nba.com/referee/injury/Injury-Report_2024-12-17_10AM.pdf" rel="noopener">is listed</a> on the NBA injury report with a right calf contusion, while Giannis is battling right patella tendinopathy. Khris Middleton (non-Covid illness) and Liam Robbins (left ankle sprain) are also on the injury report.</p><p>It goes without saying, but the Bucks’ injury concerns will be worth closely monitoring before Tuesday’s game. Here’s everything we know about Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard and other Bucks players’ injury statuses for tonight vs. the Thunder.</p><h2><b>Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard injury statuses for Bucks-Thunder NBA Cup Finals</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Giannis-Lillard.jpg"><figcaption>Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Antetokounmpo, Lillard and Middleton were all initially listed as probable, however, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bucks-news-khris-middleton-doubtful-nba-cup-title-game-vs-thunder">Middleton was later downgraded to doubtful</a>. He was ultimately ruled out before tip-off. Meanwhile, Antetokounmpo and Lillard <a href="https://x.com/BrettSiegelNBA/status/1869166891996234232" rel="noopener">are available</a>, Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints reports.</p><p>The Bucks are looking to win the 2024 NBA Cup. Milwaukee has battled back following a slow start to the 2024-25 season, as they now hold a 14-11 record. As a result, the Bucks are fifth in the Eastern Conference.</p><p>Milwaukee still has room to improve without question, but Giannis is playing at an MVP-caliber level. The Bucks will remain confident with Antetokounmpo leading the way.</p><p>Defeating the Thunder is going to be quite difficult, however. Oklahoma City leads the Western Conference with a stellar 20-5 record. They are three games ahead of the second place Memphis Grizzlies as of this story’s writing.</p><p>The Thunder look like a true NBA Finals contender. Right now, though, Oklahoma City is focused on preparing for the NBA Cup Finals against the Bucks.</p><p>As for the question of if Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard are playing tonight vs. the Thunder, the answer is yes. Middleton, however, is out.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard available vs. Thunder in NBA Cup Finals

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/thunder-news-jalen-williams-keys-defending-giannis-antetokounmpo-nba-cup-final');   ga('set', 'title', 'Jalen Williams reveals keys to defending Giannis Antetokounmpo in NBA Cup final');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Thunder-news-Jalen-Williams-reveals-keys-to-defending-Giannis-Antetokounmpo-in-NBA-Cup-final.jpg"></figure><h1>Jalen Williams reveals keys to defending Giannis Antetokounmpo in NBA Cup final</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-17T13:29:54-08:00">December 17th, 1:29pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-17T13:29:54-08:00">December 17th, 1:29pm</time><address><a>Josue Pavon</a>Josue Pavon is an Associate Editor and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat writer for ClutchPoints. He started his career as a credentialed media member writing about the Boston Celtics for WEEI.com in Boston, where he grew into a local on-camera NBA reporter and podcast host for CLNS Media. Alongside the Celtics radio broadcaster and two-time NBA champion Cedric Maxwell, Josue is the co-host of the Cedric Maxwell podcast.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Milwaukee Bucks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>In their first meeting, this season against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks, Jalen Williams, and the Oklahoma City Thunder will face off in the NBA Cup final in Las Vegas. The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/thunder-vs-bucks-how-to-watch-nba-cup-championship-game">Thunder and Bucks’ unofficial 83rd game</a> of 2024-25 should be competitive between the two hottest teams from their respective conferences. During Williams’ media availability, a reporter asked about defending Antetokounmpo.</p><p>Giannis enters Tuesday night’s matchup, scoring 28+ points in three consecutive games for the Bucks, including a 37-point performance against the Magic. However, for Williams, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BC0EQswEok&amp;t=605s" rel="noopener">limiting</a> Antetokounmpo in the NBA Cup final will require more than one defender, and he’s not the only elite scorer Oklahoma City needs to prepare for.</p><p>“Whenever you’re guarding really good players, it’s not about just one person guarding somebody, it’s about a team effort. And that’s with anybody,” Williams said. “Obviously, he’s an extremely good player and kind of a one-of-one. So we’ll have a good game plan in place. Coaches always do a good job of putting us in the right place. But, it’s going to come down to how well, as a team, do we execute, keeping guys like that at bay.</p><p>“Obviously, they have Damian Lillard, too. So, just trying to find different ways, as a team, that we can slow them down will be big for us,” Williams concluded.</p><p>In 2023-24, the Thunder and Bucks split their season series 1-1. After the Bucks beat the Thunder 118-93 on March 24, extending their win streak to six straight, the Thunder won their rematch 125-117 on April 12.</p><h2><b>Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s MVP take vs Giannis Antetokounmpo</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Thunder-All-Star-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander_aba0a5.jpg"><figcaption>Kyle Terada-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-mvp-take-nba-cup-showdown-giannis-bucks" rel="noopener">Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will not change his approach</a> to Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks. He does not believe in changing how he attacks or defends based on who he’s facing nightly. At the same time, similar to Thunder forward Jalen Williams’ take, Gilgeous-Alexander understands the magnitude of competing against one of the best players in the NBA and what’s on the line. </p><p>Still, it won’t change Gilgeous-Alexander’s <a href="https://twitter.com/thunderfilmroom/status/1868765765694099685?s=46&amp;t=r1n-d07DECxf6Tvlm4h8Xw" rel="noopener">approach</a>.</p><p>“I don’t differentiate games on who I play against. If we play the worst team, the best team in the league, I’m trying to take their head off,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I’m trying to be the best version of myself every night I step on the floor.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">“I don't differentiate games on who I play against. If we play the worst team, the best team in the league, I’m trying to take their head off. I’m trying to be the best version of myself every night I step on the floor.”</p><p>SGA on matchups vs. MVP candidates<a href="https://t.co/tNHdV9sNO5">pic.twitter.com/tNHdV9sNO5</a></p><p>— Thunder Film Room (@ThunderFilmRoom) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThunderFilmRoom/status/1868765765694099685?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 16, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>An extra $500,000 is a significant bonus for most players. Add the spirit of competition and an opportunity to send a message to the rest of the league, and Tuesday’s NBA Cup final shouldn’t disappoint.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Jalen Williams reveals keys to defending Giannis Antetokounmpo in NBA Cup final

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/bucks-news-kevin-garnett-personally-delivers-message-to-giannis-antetokounmpo-before-nba-cup-final');   ga('set', 'title', 'Kevin Garnett personally delivers message to Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo before NBA Cup Final');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Giannis-Antetokounmpo-Kevin-Garnett-Milwaukee-Bucks-Boston-Celtics-NBA-Cup-Oklahoma-City-Thunder.jpg"></figure><h1>Kevin Garnett personally delivers message to Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo before NBA Cup Final</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-17T11:47:52-08:00">December 17th, 11:47am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-17T12:19:08-08:00">December 17th, 12:19pm</time><address><a>Tomer Azarly</a>Tomer Azarly is in his ninth season as the LA Clippers beat writer and NBA reporter for ClutchPoints. From the Lob City era to the Kawhi Leonard-Paul George era, he brings you everything you need to know about the Clippers as well as coast-to-coast coverage of the NBA.In his off time, Tomer likes to play basketball, video games, and draw.You can follow his Twitter for all Clippers content.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Boston Celtics</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>LAS VEGAS, NV — The NBA Cup advanced to the final stage on Saturday, when Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bucks-news-giannis-antetokounmpo-intense-nsfw-speech-before-hawks-nba-cup-game-comes-to-light">advanced to face off</a> against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder. And there was a special appearance made by Kevin Garnett before the Finals.</p><p>During <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/thunder-vs-bucks-how-to-watch-nba-cup-championship-game">NBA Cup Finals media day</a> on Monday afternoon, the former Boston Celtics Champion made an appearance and filmed some content for his network.</p><h2><b>Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo gets message from Kevin Garnett</b></h2><p>As great as he’s been, Giannis Antetokounmpo is somehow having an even better season than any of his two prior MVP seasons.</p><p>Through 23 games, Antetokounmpo is averaging a career-high and league-leading 32.7 points per game on a career-high 61.4 percent shooting from the field. The Bucks superstar has shot no worse than 50 percent from the field in a game this season, and has 14 games shooting better than 61 percent as well.</p><p>And that’s with a slight uptick in mid-range shot attempts, especially from the <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/a/antetgi01.html" rel="noopener">16-24 foot range</a>.</p><p>During his appearance at NBA Cup Finals media day, Kevin Garnett made sure to give Giannis Antetokounmpo his flowers.</p><p>“I see you’re finally taking that mid-range!” <a href="https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/1868763704000757985" rel="noopener">Garnett said</a> as he dapped up Giannis.</p><p>“I’m trying,” Antetokounmpo responded.</p><p>“Take that mid-range, it’s going to open everything up else!”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Kevin Garnett: “I see you finally taking that mid-range!”</p><p>Giannis Antetokounmpo: “I’m trying!”</p><p>This KG-Giannis exchange 🤝🏽</p><p>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/TomerAzarly?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TomerAzarly</a>) <a href="https://t.co/vcp2JRPhxL">pic.twitter.com/vcp2JRPhxL</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1868763704000757985?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 16, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Antetokounmpo is taking 14.8 percent of his shots from the 16-24 foot-range, which is the second most he’s taken from that range since his second season in the NBA. He’s also shooting 43.7 percent on those shots, which is a career-high as well.</p><p>“Great success, keep doing your thing, you hear me?” Garnett added. “If I can ever help you, let me know.”</p><p>Once Garnett left, Antetokounmpo took a second to process his conversation with The Big Ticket.</p><p>“One of the best to ever do it,” the Bucks’ star added.</p><p>In a later exchange, Garnett and Antetokounmpo revealed that they had worked out together, and that Garnett was more intense than he was.</p><p>“I had a week of workouts with him [one time,]” <a href="https://x.com/Bucks/status/1868793094566535601" rel="noopener">Giannis Antetokounmpo said</a>. “He was sweating more than me and I was the one working out… It was the best experience of my life.”</p><p>“I just want to say it was a pleasure working with you bro,” Kevin Garnett added.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"I had a week of workouts with him. He was sweating more than me. I was the one working out." 😅</p><p>KG stopped by practice in Vegas. <a href="https://t.co/I87IEs7YxR">pic.twitter.com/I87IEs7YxR</a></p><p>— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) <a href="https://twitter.com/Bucks/status/1868793094566535601?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 16, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>The NBA Cup Finals are scheduled to tip off at 5:30PM PST on ABC.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Kevin Garnett personally delivers message to Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo before NBA Cup Final

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/bucks-news-giannis-antetokounmpo-intense-nsfw-speech-before-hawks-nba-cup-game-comes-to-light');   ga('set', 'title', 'Giannis Antetokounmpo’s intense NSFW speech before Bucks vs Hawks NBA Cup game comes to light');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Giannis-Antetokounmpos-intense-NSFW-speech-before-Bucks-vs-Hawks-NBA-Cup-game-comes-to-light.jpg"></figure><h1>Giannis Antetokounmpo’s intense NSFW speech before Bucks vs Hawks NBA Cup game comes to light</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-17T10:58:53-08:00">December 17th, 10:58am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-17T10:59:34-08:00">December 17th, 10:59am</time><address><a>Quinn Allen</a>Quinn Allen is a Senior Associate Editor with ClutchPoints. He specializes mainly in soccer, basketball, and baseball. When Quinn isn't producing content for CP,  he's writing sports betting predictions for numerous sites across North America.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Milwaukee Bucks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/thunder-vs-bucks-how-to-watch-nba-cup-championship-game">The Milwaukee Bucks will have a chance to win some hardware on Tuesday evening</a> when they face the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Cup Championship in Las Vegas. To get to this point however, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bucks-news-giannis-antetokounmpo-reveals-wish-nba-cup-win-over-hawks">Giannis Antetokounmpo and Co. had to beat the Atlanta Hawks</a> in the semifinals on Saturday, a team that got the better of them earlier in the month.</p><p>Before the 110-102 victory, The Greek Freak gave <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/43004784/how-nba-cup-saved-giannis-bucks-season" rel="noopener">an epic NSFW speech</a> to the Bucks that surely fired the squad up.</p><p>Via ESPN:</p><p>“Forty-eight f—ing minutes,” Giannis said. “Keep one another accountable. Somebody missed a shot, pick him up. Make him feel good about himself, so he can make the next one.</p><p>“We owe them one,” Antetokounmpo continued, referring to Milwaukee’s opponent that afternoon, who had beaten the Bucks in Milwaukee a few weeks prior. “There’s no tomorrow. We need this s— tonight. Build good habits from 0 to 48. Right now, let’s go.”</p><p>The Bucks ultimately won 110-102 and Giannis certainly did his part. The big man balled out for 32 points, 14 rebounds, and nine assists while also swatting four shots. Antetokounmpo also made a couple of huge plays in the final period that were important to the outcome of this contest.</p><p>After a slow start to 2024-25, Milwaukee is now figuring it out. They’ve gone 8-2 in their last 10 games and have won three straight heading into the championship in Vegas. AJ Green shed light on how Giannis has stayed vocal since the Bucks started to turn things around:</p><p>“From the start of [the winning streak], he was really intentional with it,” Green told ESPN. “Using his voice in huddles, in the locker room and he’s continued to do that throughout this stretch for us.</p><p>“We need it as a team. I think that’s definitely part of the reason why we’ve went on to win some games.”</p><p>Giannis is a clear leader and he’ll need to be at his best versus Oklahoma City if the Bucks are going to be the second In-Season Tournament champions.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

2024-25 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
32.7	11.6	6.0	1.5	0.7

2024-25 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
32.7	11.6	6.0	1.5	0.7

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