How the NBA Cup might've saved Giannis and the Bucks' season - ESPN

MOMENTS BEFORE THE Milwaukee Bucks were set to take the floor Saturday, the players and coaches gathered inside a tight hallway outside their locker room at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

It was a familiar stage; they are the only team to reach the semifinals in both NBA Cup tournaments. And remembering how that trip ended one year ago spurred a renewed focus. This year, the tournament has served as more than just a catalyst for a team that started the season winning two of its first 10 games. It just might have saved Milwaukee's season.

«Forty-eight f---ing minutes,» Giannis Antetokounmpo implored the team ahead of its semifinal. «Keep one another accountable. Somebody missed a shot, pick him up. Make him feel good about himself, so he can make the next one.

»We owe them one," Antetokounmpo continued, referring to Milwaukee's opponent that afternoon, the Atlanta Hawks, 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.»

Antetokounmpo's intensity in the huddle pregame sparked another in what has been a series of MVP-level performances this season: 32 points, 14 rebounds, 9 assists, 4 blocks, 68% shooting, with just one turnover. He extended his streak of scoring at least 20 points while shooting 50% to 23 consecutive games (two shy of an NBA record) — and sealed the win with two fourth-quarter plays that exemplified the kind of effort he pleaded with his team to show hours earlier.

With 6:35 remaining and the Bucks leading 91-90, his 6-foot-11-inch frame crashed to the floor as he dove to secure a loose ball. Four minutes later, in a clip that went viral, he out-leaped teammate Brook Lopez to swat an alley-oop