LAS VEGAS — The joy was undeniable on the faces of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, as the streamers came from the heavens of T-Mobile Arena in the aftermath of the Milwaukee Bucks clinching the NBA Cup with a 97-81 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
They needed it, not as a dress rehearsal for June, not to complete their resurrection from the NBA’s early doldrums — but for each other and this brick-by-brick approach they have to take between now and April.
But for as much as the Bucks needed this, the NBA needed it more, and probably in spades.