2024 NBA Cup championship game predictions, picks for OKC Thunder vs Milwaukee Bucks.

OKC will face Milwaukee at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the championship round of the NBA Cup.

After winning the Western Conference's Group B, OKC reached the title game by earning a 118-104 win over Dallas in the quarterfinals and a 111-96 win over Houston in the semifinals.

Milwaukee booked its ticket to the knockout rounds by winning the Eastern Conference's Group B. It then earned a 114-109 win over Orlando in the quarterfinals and a 110-102 win over Atlanta in the semifinals.

Here are staff predictions for the NBA Cup championship:

NBA Cup 2024 championship game predictions

Tuesday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. All times are Central Standard Time (CST):

OKC Thunder vs Milwaukee Bucks predictions

Jenni Carlson, sports enterprise reporter: Thunder 113, Bucks 105.

Cue the victory parade. OK, OK, there won't be one — I asked because what would be more fun than a victory parade?!? — but I can't wait to see what the banner will look like. This Thunder team is a marvel. Great offensively. Even better defensively. Giannis and Dame are magnificent, but the Thunder have answers for them on both ends.

Joel Lorenzi, Thunder beat writer: Thunder 113, Bucks 103. Mark Daigneault isn’t a gambling man. Nor does he stroll the strip. Perhaps he’s not much of gambler. But on Tuesday, he’ll toss all his chips on defending Giannis Antetokounmpo, an unstoppable force that begs for walls and units. The big man gave OKC trouble a year ago, but things have changed since. The Thunder defense added Alex Caruso, a pest with playoff experience defending Antetokounmpo, and Isaiah Hartenstein, the kind of bruiser it didn’t have a season ago. Milwaukee is surging, having turned its season around, but OKC is among the best teams on both ends. Perhaps it isn’t the most qualified to defend Giannis straight up, but it’s the most qualified to close the lanes he loves and eliminate the spacing that helps him go.

Justin Martinez, trending reporter: Thunder 105, Bucks 103. Giannis Antetokounmpo is averaging a career-high 32.7 points so far this season, and he'll look to enforce his will on Tuesday. Packing the paint to slow down the two-time MVP usually results in open looks from deep for Milwaukee, which ranks third in the league in 3-point percentage (38.9%). But OKC rotates on defense as well as any team in the league, and it has a star scorer of its own in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. I'm going with the Thunder in a close one.

Joe Mussatto, columnist: Thunder 115, Bucks 103. Anything can happen in a one-game, winner-take-all format, but I'm not going to overthink this one. The Thunder is the better team. By a lot. OKC is deeper, younger and probably more motivated. The Bucks are trying to get back to title contention while the Thunder is ascending. Damian Lillard could can 10 3-pointers and Giannis Antetokounmpo could put on his Superman cape, but the Thunder has way more pathways to victory.

Jeff Patterson, sports editor: Thunder 119, Bucks 107. It's hard to go against the Thunder at this point. Despite the injuries, OKC keeps plugging away, riding into Tuesday's NBA Cup final with 20-5 record. But this may be the biggest challenge OKC has faced to date — a Bucks squad with two elite scorers in Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Still, the Thunder defense and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's clutch nature all adds up to a big payday for OKC.

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