LAS VEGAS — Last season, after winning the NBA In-Season Tournament (what it was called before being rebranded as the NBA Cup), the Lakers lost 10 of their next 13 games. The Indiana Pacers, the team the Lakers beat in the title game, dropped 6-of-8 games after the tournament ended.
Both Bucks coach Doc Rivers and Thunder coach Mark Daigneault took note and talked about trying to make sure their teams don’t befall the same fate. For the Bucks, that started with not taking their NBA Cup win into the champagne room the league set up for them.
Bucks coach Doc Rivers told me after talking with Darvin Ham and his experience with Lakers last season, they chose not to celebrate The Cup championship with dousing and drinking of champagne. Want to focus on the remainder of the season. pic.twitter.com/CQ0J0aoeWz
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) December 18, 2024
“I remember last year... I actually said, ‘Oh no, how are the Lakers going to play right after this?’” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “Because emotionally, you get high and you get thrown right back into it. I think we have a day off, and then we have a back-to-back. So we are going to try to cushion it the best way we can.”
The problem both teams face is the NBA schedule, which was laid out well before these teams advanced to the NBA Cup final four in Las Vegas. Milwaukee plays Friday at Cleveland and Saturday at home against Washington. Oklahoma City has it tougher, it flew from Las Vegas straight to Orlando for a game Thursday night, then the team has a back-to-back against Jimmy Butler and Heat in Miami on Friday night.
“It will be a challenge coming out of it for both teams,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “We’re basically on a six-day West Coast road trip right now, and our next game coming out of this is three time zones away, four-hour flight to Orlando and then a back-to-back against Miami. Which if you look that as a road trip, is an unprecedented road trip. I mean, the NBA would never schedule that. They would never put a team a six-day West Coast road trip, and then fly them east for a back-to-back.”
Both Rivers and Daigneault said they think the league needs to tweak the schedule somehow to allow the teams that play in Las Vegas a little extra rest. It echoes what was said by some front-office executives after last season’s tournament — there are incentives to win for the players and coaches (extra money and a trip to Las Vegas), but there is no reward for the organization.
“I think [the NBA Cup] a good concept for the league. I think the interest that they’re generating this time of year is obviously good for the business,” Daigneault said. “I do think the incentives are a little upside down, especially with the travel and rest. I think that’s something that they can definitely take a look at.”
There are other changes coming to the NBA Cup in future years, this is one the winning teams want the league to look into.
