It was an ugly win by the Milwaukee Bucks against the Orlando Magic in the quarterfinals of NBA Emirates Cup but Damian Lillard will take it.
In fact, he thinks there is something beautiful with the way they won, something that will play a great role for them moving forward.
The Bucks needed clutch plays from Dame Time to shut down the Magic on Tuesday to be able to reach the semis of the second edition of the NBA in-season tournament.
While some fans are not too happy that they almost lost at home, Lillard thinks the ending of the game represents what they went through early in the season.
I just think it’s more than making it to Vegas. I think it’s us being able to pull ourselves out of a hole. Being in the NBA, I know that you can’t do that with one person, or two people or three people, four people, you know? It takes the right type of energy to be spread throughout the group.
You know, how we come into the practice facility, how the energy is in the locker room, how we engage with our coaches, you know, in practice, and how we’re able to just stay connected, even when things aren’t going well and maybe the coaches might be frustrated with us not doing things good enough. We might be frustrated with ourselves. And we just stayed connected.
Lillard scored 28 points in the game, seven of them in the last 58 seconds.
Giannis Antetokounmpo contributed 37 points with four blocks.
Damian Lillard hopes to finish the NBA Cup job
The Bucks have now reached the semifinals of the NBA Cup for the second time. The other three teams who made the Final Four last year were eliminated in the group stage.
Lillard thought they have a mission to complete after their failed bid last season.
“We didn’t have a great experience out there last year. I think all of us are thinking, going back and finishing what we started last year and doing it right this time,” he told the courtside reporter after the game.
The Bucks now await the winner of the New York Knicks-Atlanta Hawks game.
Over at the Western Conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder disposed off the Dallas Mavericks. They will face the winner of the encounter between the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors.
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