LAS VEGAS — The NBA Cup finale Tuesday night had many of the things you’d want for an emerging product the league started just a year ago to fanfare, buzz and the natural skepticism that comes with something most sports fans don’t quite understand.
Tuesday’s title game in Sin City boasted a cool locale. It featured a showdown between a not-too-distant defending champion in the Milwaukee Bucks and a rising force in the Oklahoma City Thunder. And if, in the end, the game wasn’t exactly close, it was certainly hard-fought, with a healthy share of chippiness, physicality and too-hard fouls — a sign the players, at least, thought the tournament had enough value to fight over.
There were also the requisite superstars in the Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, and the Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Throw in a crowd that was bigger and louder than it seemed on television, and this newfangled thing the league had conjured up felt, at least up close, far from a dud.
But while the Bucks won, 97–81, the more important contest remains undecided: Is this NBA Cup, in just its second year, ultimately trending toward a victory for a league that covets something that will someday significantly matter to sports fans?
The early ratings in the leadup to the three cup games here in Vegas were, in the competition’s second year, down from its inaugural season. The word on the street, and in the arena, was that tickets were easy to come by — and inexpensive.
Neither of those facts screams the cup was a must-watch.
And when the gold confetti floated down from the top of T-Mobile Arena, as the Bucks donned black shirts celebrating the title and Giannis strutted across the floor with a gaudy, giant golden trophy, the moment didn’t quite have that sizzling sensation of awe you get when it happens in June, for an actual NBA championship.
But there was still real joy in the Bucks’ on-court banter, interviews and celebrations. Milwaukee coach Doc Ricers later mingled with media and leftover fans, beaming. Giannis used the chance to note…
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