Former NFL quarterback Mike Vick has told people close to him that he plans to accept the head coaching job at Norfolk State, sources confirmed to ESPN's Pete Thamel on Tuesday.

The Spartans are finalizing a deal to hire a new coach, according to sources.

Norfolk State officials declined to comment on Vick specifically when reached by ESPN but said they plan to release a statement soon indicating they were going through the formal steps of their hiring process.

Sources also told ESPN that Vick, 44, has informed Sacramento State officials that he is no longer in the mix for their open head coaching position and indicated to them he's taking a job closer to home at Norfolk State. Vick's hometown of Newport News, Virginia, is about 20 miles from the Spartans' campus.

As a player, Vick carried Virginia Tech to the 1999 national title game and went on to become the first Black quarterback to be chosen with the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft. He has been an NFL analyst for Fox Sports since his retirement in 2017.

News of Vick's plan to take the Norfolk State job was first reported by the Virginian-Pilot.

Atlanta Falcons coach Raheem Morris was largely noncommittal Tuesday when asked if Kirk Cousins will be the team's starting quarterback for Sunday's home game against the New York Giants.

The Falcons beat the Las Vegas Raiders 15-9 on the road on "Monday Night Football" to snap a four-game losing streak. But Cousins once again didn't look like himself. He was 11-of-17 for 112 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Cousins has nine interceptions in the past five games with just a single touchdown during that stretch.

"We just got back [to Georgia], man," Morris said during a virtual news conference, when asked if Cousins will start against the Giants. "We've still got to go through all that process like we always do. Obviously getting back [early Tuesday morning], getting a big-time win. ... There's no secret. We didn't play well enough [at] the quarterback position, and we got to find ways to play better."

In previous weeks, Morris had been firm that Cousins would be the team's starting quarterback moving forward. Not so Tuesday.

The Falcons selected quarterback Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth pick in the NFL draft in April to be the team's quarterback of the future.

When asked if there was still a feeling in the organization that Cousins was the quarterback who gave the Falcons the best chance to win, Morris replied, "That's a loaded question."

"We didn't play particularly well at the quarterback position," Morris said of the game against the Raiders. "We didn't play well yesterday at that spot. I like to be open and honest and clear about those things and it was always going to be those question marks ... when it comes to the head coach, when it comes to the quarterback, and you got to be really transparent about it and we got to play better. And I think that's the thing that's got to be put out there, that we got to play better. That's the thing that's got to be addressed."

Cousins didn't throw on first down in the first half Monday night, the first time that has occurred in his 13-year career. He threw on first down to open the second half and it resulted in an interception by Raiders linebacker Robert Spillane. Running backs Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier combined for 34 carries, which was the bulk of the team's offense.

After the game, Cousins said he had to play better and that Morris saying the same thing in the postgame news conference was stating the "obvious."

Cousins, 36, is completing 64.7% of his passes with 18 touchdowns and a league-high 16 interceptions. He also has 12 fumbles, which is tied for the most in the NFL with Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield.

Cousins is coming off a torn right Achilles injury that ended his season in Week 8 of 2023. The Falcons signed Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract in the offseason. About $100 million of that is guaranteed, though most of that money comes off the books by 2026.

When it comes to playing Penix, Morris said the Falcons are "being really smart and cautious in how we go about our business," but he doesn't necessarily believe there is a downside to playing him at this juncture.

"You could never say there's a [downside] to turn it over to somebody that you put a lot of investment into, somebody that you brought in here, somebody you've done some things with, somebody that [has] said nothing but the right things since they've been here," Morris said of Penix.

Morris said he needs to "remain steadfast" and make the best decision for the team moving forward. At 7-7, the Falcons are still fighting for a playoff spot despite the four-game losing streak that plummeted them out of first place in the NFC South.

According to ESPN's Football Power Index (FPI) projections, Atlanta has a 29% chance to make the playoffs and a 20.7% chance of winning the NFC South.

"You've got to win and like I said, man, we're going to do whatever's best for us to win as many games as we can win this season," Morris said. "And that's just our job."

LAS VEGAS -- The NBA's All-Star Game is going to be an All-Star tournament this season, with the league announcing Tuesday that it has finalized plans to use a different format for the upcoming midseason showcase in San Francisco.

And scoring is sure to be down -- way, way, way down.

This season's format is a four-team, three-game, one-night tournament, featuring three teams of eight All-Stars each, with the fourth team being the winner of the Rising Stars challenge for first- and second-year players. The winning team in all games will be the first to score 40 points.

It'll happen Feb. 16 at the home of the Golden State Warriors. The Rising Stars event is there Feb. 14, headlining All-Star Friday.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver has wanted a more competitive All-Star event for some time, and this change comes after the teams combined to score a record 397 points -- 211-186 was the final -- in last season's game at Indianapolis.

The teams combined to take 289 shots in that game, 94% of those being either inside the paint or beyond the 3-point line.

"Obviously, with the elephant in the room being us competing, them trying to shake things up is expected and makes sense," said Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a likely All-Star selection this season for the third time. "At the end of the day, it's going to come down to whether the players want to go at it, and I would love to see that. Love to be a part of that for sure, and hopefully it happens."

There have been other All-Star format shake-ups in recent years. After the first 66 All-Star Games, which were played in the traditional format - Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference, with four quarters of 12 minutes each - the league switched to a new format in which the leading vote-getters from each conference served as captains and drafted their teams.

LeBron James served as one of the captains all six times, with Giannis Antetokounmpo the other captain three times, Kevin Durant twice and Stephen Curry once.

In four of the captain's-pick years, All-Star Games used a target score at the end of games, ensuring that the winner was decided on a made shot. Fourth quarters were untimed, and the winner was the first team to reach the leading team's score after three quarters, plus 24 points -- a tribute to Kobe Bryant's final jersey number.

It went back to the East vs. West format last season and saw a record point total along with Luka Doncic trying a 70-foot jumper, Donovan Mitchell throwing a 50-foot underhand inbounds pass, Bam Adebayo inbounding the ball to himself by tossing it off Nikola Jokic's backside, Tyrese Haliburton trying and making five 3-pointers in a 92-second span, and Damian Lillard capping the night with a 44-foot jumper -- which wasn't even his longest shot of the game.

"I think something could be done about it," Lillard said after his MVP-winning performance in last season's game. "I'm not sure what, but I think there's a way to make it a more competitive game."

The league hopes it has found the answer.

Voting format

All-Star voting begins Thursday, and the format is unchanged.

Fans can cast ballots daily through Jan. 20 for three frontcourt and two backcourt players from both conferences.

That'll be part of a weighted formula -- 50% fan vote, 25% media panel vote, 25% current player vote -- to determine the 10 players who will be designated as "starters."

NBA head coaches will pick the 14 players designated as "reserves."

But the starter and reserve columns won't mean much on game night, because there will be 15 different players starting -- five from each of the three teams -- and only nine players coming off the bench in those semifinal games.

How the teams will be picked

TNT analysts and former NBA players Shaquille O'Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith will draft teams from the 24-player All-Star pool on Feb. 6. The teams will bear their names -- Team Shaq, Team Charles and Team Kenny.

The Rising Stars winner that'll go to the All-Star tournament will be called Team Candace, for retired WNBA star Candace Parker, also a TNT analyst.

Coaching staffs

The coaching staffs from the teams with the best records in the Eastern and Western Conferences will go to the All-Star Game. (It cannot be the Milwaukee or Minnesota coaching staffs, because they coached last season.)

The East and West head coaches will each coach a team in the tournament. One assistant coach from each staff will serve as head coach for each of the other two teams.

Prize money

There is a prize pool of $1.8 million for the All-Star Game.

Each player on the All-Star champion team gets $125,000, players on the runner-up team will get $50,000, and the players on the teams eliminated in the semifinals will get $25,000.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

SAN FRANCISCO -- It did not take Dennis Schroder long to get over the initial shock of being traded from the Brooklyn Nets to the Golden State Warriors.

Even though Schroder and his family had just recently settled into a new house, the point guard began to think about playing alongside Stephen Curry and Draymond Green and for Steve Kerr.

"Just to be able to be around them now, especially Steph," Schroder said Tuesday after scrimmaging with his new teammates. "He's one of, if not the best point guard ever. Best shooter of course. Just excited to see how he works and to be a part of it.

"I've played with a lot of future Hall of Famers the last couple of years. Him and Draymond will make it kind of complete now."

The Warriors cannot wait to incorporate the 12-year veteran into the mix. Since starting 12-3, they've dropped eight of their past 10 games.

Kerr said Schroder could be in the starting lineup Thursday, when the Warriors play at Memphis. The Warriors coach likes the idea of playing the two point guards together so that Schroder can help set up Curry for some easier scoring opportunities.

And Kerr said Schroder will be the point guard on the floor to help organize the second unit in the "non-Steph" minutes.

"We need to take some of the burden off Steph," Kerr said. "He's had to take on, I think, an abnormal load this year of responsibility offensively.

"What we've missed is another pick-and-roll player so that Steph doesn't have to run so much pick-and-roll all game and wear himself down."

Kerr said the Warriors can use Schroder in pick-and-roll situations similar to what they did with Chris Paul last season.

Schroder comes in averaging 18.4 points, 6.6 assists and 38.7% shooting from behind the arc. The Warriors need another scorer to help Curry, Andrew Wiggins and Jonathan Kuminga.

Schroder's defense will be a welcomed addition, as well. The Warriors are hoping Schroder can help fill the void left by De'Anthony Melton's season-ending knee injury. The two-way guard was a starter when healthy and was seen as a valuable fit alongside Curry. Melton was traded to Brooklyn along with Reece Beekman and three second-round picks for Schroder and a second-round pick.

"Really, really excited to play with Draymond," Schroder said. "We got a pretty good relationship. Really looking forward to playing with another Hall of Famer on the court who was always hell when you were on the other side of it, who was talking smack, trash, just being competitive and come out of there with a win. To combine [our defense and competitiveness] now is pretty unique and special."

Kerr said Schroder was on the opposite team against Curry's squad in the scrimmage to get the point guard accustomed to the second unit. But Schroder is looking forward to playing alongside Curry as well.

"Every time I've seen Golden State play, you get excited because just how he plays," Schroder said. "He plays it like a video game ... he's one of the superstars who I got a lot of respect for because he doesn't care if he scores 10, 20, 30 or 40.

"I'm really excited. I can't say it enough."

LAS VEGAS -- Milwaukee Bucks forward Khris Middleton will miss Tuesday night's NBA Cup final against the Oklahoma City Thunder with an illness, coach Doc Rivers said about 90 minutes before tipoff.

Middleton sat out practice Monday but tried to go through the team's walkthrough Tuesday morning. He was downgraded to doubtful a few hours before the game before being ruled out by Rivers, who said the team didn't want to take a chance of his illness spreading with a back-to-back this weekend.

"He just didn't feel good and we didn't want to take a chance with him being around the guys," Rivers said. "Just wasn't worth the chance."

Middleton has played in just only four games this season after missed the team's first 21 contests while recovering from offseason surgery on both ankles. He is averaging 7 points, 5.8 assists, 3 rebounds and 21 minutes this season.

LAS VEGAS -- When Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo was asked Friday about the second edition of the NBA Cup and if he'd change anything about the event, he smiled.

"I don't think there's anything to change," Antetokounmpo, whose Bucks lost in the semifinals last season in Las Vegas, said. "My room is nice. The arena here is nice. You guys [the assembled media] make it feel real.

"I overheard a couple players while we were walking in, and they said, 'Oh wow, this is real.' That's how I felt last year."

Last season's NBA Cup champions, LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, didn't make it back to Las Vegas. The defending NBA champion Boston Celtics also failed to advance past group play. But with the tournament culminating Tuesday night with a matchup between MVP favorites Antetokounmpo and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, plenty of star power will be on display as the second NBA Cup champion is determined.

"We've been really pleased with the second year of this format and the first year of the Emirates NBA Cup," Evan Wasch, the league's executive vice president of strategy and analytics, told ESPN. "It's great to see players buy in and really compete for something during this early part of the season."

That doesn't mean the league's in-season tournament is a finished product.

Heading into Tuesday's final between the Bucks and the Oklahoma City Thunder (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC), we spoke with league power brokers in Las Vegas -- plus coaches and executives of teams both in the tournament's final four and around the league -- on what has worked, what hasn't and what's next for the NBA Cup.

The adjusted schedule has worked

The biggest change the league made following last year's inaugural NBA Cup was adjusting the knockout round schedule. Last season, the entire process was completed in six days:

• Quarterfinals at home sites Monday and Tuesday

• Semifinals in Las Vegas on Thursday

• Championship game in Las Vegas on Saturday

As a result, last year the Bucks arrived in Las Vegas early Wednesday morning, then played the early-afternoon game Thursday about 30 hours later. It also meant the NBA went head-to-head with the NFL on both Monday and Thursday.

This year, the NBA made several shifts in the schedule, pushing it out to eight total days:

• Quarterfinals at home sites Tuesday and Wednesday

• Semifinals in Las Vegas on Saturday

• Championship game in Las Vegas on Tuesday

The change has been welcomed by everyone involved, as it has allowed teams to catch their breath, fully prepare for the elimination games and avoid the tough turnaround Milwaukee faced last year. It also produced two spirited, competitive games in Saturday's semis and plenty of dramatic moments in the quarters.

But fitting the tournament into the existing schedule will continue to present plenty of challenges. In a span of 10 days, the NBA will have one day with no games, two other days with a single game and three others with just two games. All were necessary to allow the NBA Cup to be highlighted but do the league no favors in reducing back-to-backs in the schedule. "It makes the schedule really wonky for this week," a Western Conference executive said.

However, all four quarterfinals and both semifinals produced exciting and close games, drawing the kind of attention to the early part of the league's schedule that normally skews toward the NFL and college football.

"It's gotten its desired outcome," the executive said. "There's more to these games than just any old game.

"You heard [Steve] Kerr's comments after [Golden State's quarterfinal loss]. They were pissed. They wanted to be there."

Neutral-site games remain a work in progress

Tuesday night's final will show just how much moving the final from Saturday to Tuesday will impact both attendance and television ratings (though not having the Lakers involved also will likely affect both).

Despite the competitiveness of Saturday's semifinals, the atmosphere inside T-Mobile Arena was tepid. The crowds for both games were in line with what the league got last year: a slight bump from 16,837 to 17,113 for the first game, and a slight drop from 18,017 (a sellout) for the second semifinal (featuring the Lakers) to 17,937.

League officials were happy with those attendance numbers, which were buoyed by a strong Atlanta contingent that was in town to see the Falcons play the Las Vegas Raiders on "Monday Night Football."

"You could definitely hear them in the crowd tonight," Hawks star Trae Young said after Atlanta's semifinal loss. "It was good to have them out here supporting us. Wish we could have won for them."

Still, the games clearly lacked the energy of a home game, a marked contrast to the atmosphere in the Cup quarterfinals. Last year, the NBA benefited from the Lakers -- with the league's biggest fan base just a four-hour drive away -- winning the inaugural Cup. So far, this year's tournament has showcased the challenges of playing games in a neutral environment, no matter the competition.

What changes could be next for the NBA Cup?

In conversations this week, several sources mentioned the possibility of playing the semifinals at home sites, then having the championship game in Vegas. That's similar to how the UEFA Champions League in soccer and other cup-style tournaments are played. And it would undoubtedly create a better atmosphere for the games.

The counterargument is it would remove the carrot of a trip to Las Vegas in the middle of the season from two of the four teams that make the trip now. Perhaps more importantly, it also would require teams to leave more arena dates open to host games, a significant hurdle to overcome for many franchises with multiuse arenas.

One change, however, is definitely coming to the NBA Cup: its next television home.

After TNT and ESPN split hosting duties over the first two seasons, Amazon will take over for the quarterfinals, semifinals and the championship game. There have been discussions between the NBA and Amazon about possible schedule changes at some point in the future, league sources told ESPN.

That includes moving the tournament a bit deeper into the regular season. But those same sources cautioned that any such discussions were preliminary, and that it was far from likely any changes would be implemented next season.

A later-season finish would allow for another tweak multiple sources mentioned over the weekend: doubling the length of the group stage from four to eight games. The argument for that change would be to increase the chances of the best teams advancing.

Last year, no team in the West's top five reached the knockout rounds. This year, the East's top two teams -- the Cleveland Cavaliers and Celtics -- missed out.

"If you play eight group games," another West executive said, "the Celtics wind up in [the knockout rounds]."

The NBA showed its willingness to adjust on the fly by making immediate changes to the knockout round schedule after last season's inaugural event. And although the league is happy with how the tournament is progressing as part of the calendar, it's clear the NBA Cup will continue to evolve.

"In terms of changes for future years, we're always going to be looking at ways to improve the experience for our teams, players, fans and partners," Wasch said. "So while there's nothing I can say is definitely coming, it's always something we're looking at fine-tuning."

MOMENTS BEFORE THE Milwaukee Bucks were set to take the floor Saturday, the players and coaches gathered inside a tight hallway outside their locker room at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

It was a familiar stage; they are the only team to reach the semifinals in both NBA Cup tournaments. And remembering how that trip ended one year ago spurred a renewed focus. This year, the tournament has served as more than just a catalyst for a team that started the season winning two of its first 10 games. It just might have saved Milwaukee's season.

"Forty-eight f---ing minutes," Giannis Antetokounmpo implored the team ahead of its semifinal. "Keep one another accountable. Somebody missed a shot, pick him up. Make him feel good about himself, so he can make the next one.

"We owe them one," Antetokounmpo continued, referring to Milwaukee's opponent that afternoon, the Atlanta Hawks, who had beaten the Bucks in Milwaukee a few weeks prior. "There's no tomorrow. We need this s--- tonight. Build good habits from 0 to 48. Right now, let's go."

Antetokounmpo's intensity in the huddle pregame sparked another in what has been a series of MVP-level performances this season: 32 points, 14 rebounds, 9 assists, 4 blocks, 68% shooting, with just one turnover. He extended his streak of scoring at least 20 points while shooting 50% to 23 consecutive games (two shy of an NBA record) -- and sealed the win with two fourth-quarter plays that exemplified the kind of effort he pleaded with his team to show hours earlier.

With 6:35 remaining and the Bucks leading 91-90, his 6-foot-11-inch frame crashed to the floor as he dove to secure a loose ball. Four minutes later, in a clip that went viral, he out-leaped teammate Brook Lopez to swat an alley-oop attempt. The Bucks won the game, 110-102, securing a spot in the NBA Cup finals.

For most of his 11-year career, Antetokounmpo has been comfortable allowing his play to speak for itself. But when the Bucks got off to a disastrous start -- winning two of their first 10 games, and inviting rival executives to speculate about the team's aging core and whether that group could support Antetokounmpo's desire to remain competitive -- it was Antetokounmpo who quieted the noise, at least internally.

"From the start of [the winning streak], he was really intentional with it," Bucks guard AJ Green told ESPN. "Using his voice in huddles, in the locker room and he's continued to do that throughout this stretch for us.

"We need it as a team. I think that's definitely part of the reason why we've went on to win some games."

Bucks forward Bobby Portis has seen Antetokounmpo grow into a more outspoken leader in recent years.

"He was being vocal, talking about things he wanted [on the court], talking before the game, things that the first couple years he didn't really do as often as he does now," Portis, who has played with Antetokounmpo since 2020, told ESPN.

"It's cool to see guys' leadership go to another level. Especially at a time of the season when it was critical for us to get back to at least playing some good ball."

After the disastrous start, Milwaukee won 12 of its next 15 games, compiling the best record in the NBA since Nov. 12. Damian Lillard has found a groove as a co-star. Khris Middleton is back after missing the first 21 games while recovering from offseason surgeries on his ankles. And over that span, the Bucks are eighth in defense after ranking 22nd through the first 10 games.

Antetokounmpo has been leading the way, refusing to let this season go to waste. For the second straight year, he and the Bucks have used the NBA Cup as a pivot point -- this time to salvage a season on the brink and quiet league-wide questions about his future with the franchise.

"I would be texting with Giannis, and we'd be talking at practice or whatever, his mind was never shut off," Lillard said Friday in Las Vegas. "He was never discouraged. He was never overly concerned. It was always, fight. Our conversations had always been, like, we're going to turn it around. We're going to figure it out. We're going to lead. We've got to keep going. We've got to dominate.

"I wasn't overly concerned because I knew that eventually it would turn around just based off of that."

The Bucks have climbed from the bottom of the Eastern Conference to sixth, just two games out of third. They are undefeated in NBA Cup games (6-0) this season and will face the Oklahoma City Thunder in the championship game Tuesday night (ABC, 8:30 p.m. ET).

"I'm trying to go out there and lead by example, which that's what I love to do, but I know that my voice carries a lot of weight and is very important within the team," Antetokounmpo said after Saturday's game. "So I try to talk as much as I can without allowing my voice to go too much."

Only three teams over the past 25 seasons have started as poorly as 1-6 or worse and still made the playoffs (the 2021-22 New Orleans Pelicans, the 2004-05 Chicago Bulls and the 2003-04 Miami Heat). And no team had responded to that adversity so resoundingly over the next 15 games. The Bucks are trying to join this group that made the postseason, and they are hoping this run to the NBA Cup finals in Las Vegas will be a harbinger of things to come, both in the second half of the season and the playoffs.

AFTER A BUCKS shootaround in Miami on Nov. 26, in the middle of the team's season-long seven-game winning streak, coach Doc Rivers sat in his chair on the sidelines of Kaseya Center. He leaned back with an easy grin. The sidelines were glistening in red, surrounding a golden court, a sign of the NBA Cup game scheduled later that night.

Rivers was preparing for a chance to guide his team back to .500, a notable feat after the worst start to a season in his 26-year coaching career. "It's funny, the outside world was ..." Rivers told ESPN, his voice trailing off. He threw up his hands. "Around here, no one was even f---ing phased. We all believe this is going to work for us."

Throughout the slow start, Rivers repeatedly insisted that the noise surrounding his flailing franchise was external. He knew the players weren't performing well -- they were slow to get back in transition, the ball was sticking on offense and Rivers had to change his rotations to utilize the team's young talent -- but he remained confident in the team's response to adversity.

Rivers wasn't worried about the offense -- several players were shooting below their career averages from 3 -- but he was trying to get the Bucks to tighten their defense. What they had worked on in training camp had yet to come together.

"We weren't picking up what we worked on," Rivers said. "We did make some big changes with our bigs being in the paint, more guards having to guard the perimeter, and we didn't do it very well and so that hurt us. That put a lot of stress on our offense, and our offense hadn't caught up."

Milwaukee reached its lowest point Nov. 10 after a loss at home to the Celtics. The Bucks were six games under .500 and sat 14th in the East entering their first NBA Cup game Nov. 12 at home against the Toronto Raptors, the only team worse than the Bucks in the standings.

Rivers saw an opportunity. The Bucks couldn't climb out of their season-long record hole in an instant, he said, but they could start targeting wins in the tournament in the hopes of a trip to Las Vegas in the middle of a Milwaukee winter.

"It was just a chance to get into playoff mode," Bucks forward Taurean Prince told ESPN. "Being able to lock in on those games, have something to play for. That's part of what helps teams become good."

Rivers was a broadcaster for ESPN last December when the Bucks arrived in Las Vegas for the tournament semifinals. Around that time, Bucks ownership arranged a meeting with Rivers to advise first-year coach Adrian Griffin, who, despite Milwaukee's strong record (15-6), was not connecting with the players, sources told ESPN. Despite the meeting, Griffin was fired a little more than a month after his team's trip to Vegas. Two weeks later, Rivers took the job.

Rivers, who is 31-30 in his tenure with the Bucks, including a first-round playoff exit, has been working to reshape the team. Despite widespread speculation and skepticism, he has remained steadfast in his belief in continuity.

"It was cool not to have a coach that pressed," Portis told ESPN. "We just did the same things that we've been doing and just sharpened up more so than anything, just trying to get on the same page.

"He instills confidence in his players. His ability to just stay even keel through the lows we were having earlier in the season made us even keel."

It helped Rivers, too, that he knew he could coach his two stars hard, calling out Antetokounmpo and Lillard in film sessions before he directed his attention to role players.

"I can show them in film making mistakes and they own it," Rivers said. "Then everybody else, you got to follow, right?"

Lillard agreed: "They got to be able to coach us and correct us, too," he told ESPN. "There's no resistance to that from [either] of us. That does allow them to coach us harder as a team and hold us accountable."

Milwaukee won its first two tournament games against Toronto and Indiana and rattled off six of seven victories overall before heading into the Nov. 26 game against Miami. But Antetokounmpo was scratched from the lineup hours before the game because of swelling in his left knee, leaving the Bucks short-handed.

Lillard stepped up in his absence. He scored 37 points and recorded 12 assists while getting the Bucks back to .500 and protecting their perfect record in group play.

"We all knew we weren't playing the kind of basketball we wanted to play," Lillard told ESPN. "It was just like, man, we got to be better, and we was all on the same page about this as a team. We got to do better. We got to address where we struggling at, everybody knew it and everybody just kind of respected and understood it. The coaches would get on us in film, get on us in practice and we just kept working.

"We worked our way through it."

DURING THE THIRD quarter of the Bucks' Dec. 3 matchup against the Detroit Pistons, a different player stepped in to lead a third-quarter huddle. The winner of the game would advance out of East Group B and host a quarterfinal matchup. And with Milwaukee locked in a tight game and a chance to seal a critical win, Lillard took control.

"I heard him multiple times saying, 'This is where we assert ourselves. This is where we put teams away," Antetokounmpo told reporters after Milwaukee's 128-107 victory. "This is where we become the team that we're trying to become ... I loved it. I loved it when he said that."

One quality Lillard and Antetokounmpo have in common is their preference to lead by example, but both have grown more comfortable as leaders of the team this season.

"Both of them wanted the other one to do it," Rivers said. "Neither one of 'em are that. [But] they both are more vocal."

Despite his natural inclination to the contrary, Lillard knew he, too, needed to fill what he called "the big, quiet space" in difficult situations. "Sometimes, people just need to hear some encouragement, some words to just let everybody know, man, this s--- ain't the end of the world," Lillard told ESPN.

"We'll be fine. We just got to keep pushing forward."

After beating Detroit, the Bucks earned a home game against the Orlando Magic last Tuesday in the NBA Cup quarterfinals for the chance to make it to Vegas for a second straight season. Antetokounmpo was dominant all game, paving the way with 37 points and four blocked shots, but it was Lillard who sealed the win down the stretch, with nine points in the game's final minute, including the go-ahead layup in a 114-109 win.

It's the formula the Bucks envisioned when they put the two together before the start of last season.

"Giannis is playing MVP basketball," Lillard told ESPN. "I've carved out what I feel like a team needs from me as far as being aggressive, making plays, getting in the paint.

"When everybody's doing their job, you're not dependent on only making shots. You're not dependent on a perfect game because we're consistent. Obviously, Giannis is going to have to do what he does. I'm going to have to do what I do. But when you get everybody coming in and doing their job, we're going to have a great opportunity."

The Bucks will have an opportunity to win the NBA Cup on Tuesday, a chance to come full circle and avenge a missed opportunity last season. Now, one year later, the Bucks are rolling, entering the championship game with Lillard and Antetokounmpo looking more comfortable as a duo than ever.

Antetokounmpo and Lillard are the highest-scoring tandem in the NBA, averaging a combined 58.4 points per game. Lillard has assisted Antetokounmpo 52 times this season, including 19 dunks, both of which rank in the top 10 among passer-scorer combinations in the NBA, according to ESPN Research.

"At the end of the day it takes time," Antetokounmpo said Saturday about his relationship with Lillard. "I feel like a lot of people had such high expectations from us from Day 1 to be the best duo to ever play this game, but it takes time.

"Now, it's our second year playing together, we are more comfortable playing with one another. We know one another's spots better.

"Our chemistry is the best it's ever been."

Clay Holmes did not enter free agency determined to transition back to becoming a starting pitcher again after spending three-plus seasons as one of baseball's best relievers with the New York Yankees. But when the possibility presented itself, the two-time All-Star closer decided he would have regretted not giving it a try.

"I didn't want to look back at the end of my career and say, 'Man, what could have come from that?'" Holmes said.

Holmes was introduced Tuesday as a member of the New York Mets -- as a starting pitcher, not a reliever -- after signing a three-year, $38 million contract with a $12 million player option for the third season in 2027. The right-hander garnered interest from multiple teams both as a starter and reliever, though he has not started a game since his rookie season in 2018 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He said the Yankees did not discuss converting him to a starter.

He is one of two starting pitchers the Mets have signed this offseason, joining right-hander Frankie Montas.

"There's a lot of reasons why the Mets drew me in," Holmes, 31, said. "For one, I think the leadership here. Starts with the Cohen family and David Stearns and Carlos Mendoza. I think just seeing their leadership and their vision, their belief, is definitely something that was very appealing. I think the culture here they've created is something that I think people want to be a part of."

Drafted as a starter out of high school in 2011, Holmes explained the thought of transitioning back to starting remained in the back of his mind as he established himself as a reliever over the years. He said he found interest from overseas as a starting pitcher after the 2020 season but remained with the Pirates to begin the 2021 campaign. That summer, he was traded to New York, where he enjoyed immediate success as a setup man before becoming the club's closer in 2022.

During bullpen sessions this season he fooled around with a four-seam fastball and changeup, pitches that could compliment his elite sinker, slider and sweeper to round out a starter's arsenal. By the end of the year, he jokingly wondered if a return to starting was possible. He realized it wasn't farfetched early in the offseason when he met with teams in free agency. He found a few were open to the possibility.

"It was something that still, deep down, I had a passion for and excited me," Holmes said.

Holmes will find a familiar face helping guide his transition in Desi Druschel, whom the Mets hired away from the Yankees to become their assistant pitching coach last month. The metamorphosis will begin with a slightly different offseason training program -- more conditioning and continuing to build up stamina through January -- and require several adjustments once the season begins to manage the increased workload.

Holmes said his "intention" is to throw at least 160 innings in 2025 -- a number he has never reached as a professional. He last threw at least 100 innings in 2018 when he combined for 127 frames between the minors and majors. His career high as a pro is 136 innings in 2016.

"It's hard to put arbitrary numbers on things and say, 'If you get to this number, that's all you can handle,'" Holmes said. "I don't so much believe in that. I think there's definitely things you need to monitor and see. How your body's holding up and the strength and some mobility things."

Holmes won't be the first pitcher to attempt the conversion. A few reliever-turned-starters shined in 2024: Michael King, Holmes's former Yankees teammate, transitioned from shutdown reliever with New York to frontline starter with the San Diego Padres, while Seth Lugo finished second in American League Cy Young voting with the Kansas City Royals, and Reynaldo Lopez was an All-Star for the Atlanta Braves.

Each pitcher is different, with different repertoires at different stages of their careers. For Holmes, continuing his success as an elite reliever was on the table. But he couldn't turn down the opportunity to return to his roots.

"When you see guys make the transition, it's definitely like, 'Man, this is possible. This is cool,'" Holmes said. "There's kind of somewhat of a little road map. You see other guys do it. It's not super common, but you don't feel like you're in uncharted water."

Devin Williams knew he was getting traded this offseason. He was just caught by surprise by the destination.

Williams was introduced Thursday as a member of the New York Yankees on Tuesday after a whirlwind rumor mill had him believe he was headed to another big-market behemoth on the other coast.

"I kind of thought I'd be going to L.A.," Williams, 30, said. "That was what I was being told, and the Yankees snuck in there under the table and got the deal done."

The deal was Williams to the Yankees for left-hander Nestor Cortes, prospect Caleb Durbin and cash. So, instead of joining the World Series champion Dodgers, Williams landed on the team the Dodgers defeated for the title.

For the Brewers, moving the All-Star closer before he inevitably became too expensive in free agency next offseason allowed them to extract some value. For the Yankees, he bolsters bullpen that has so far lost Clay Holmes to free agency and could have more key relievers -- Tommy Kahnle and Tim Hill -- sign elsewhere this winter.

While Yankees general manager Brian Cashman last week said Williams' role will be up to manager Aaron Boone, the right-hander with a devastating changeup known as the "Airbender" figures to slide into the closer slot that Luke Weaver, a breakout star in 2024, filled in September and through the postseason.

"I'm excited for it, man," Williams said. "They obviously have a long history with Mariano [Rivera], Aroldis [Chapman]. Those guys, they've been the best of the best. And I'm just trying to add my name to that list, hopefully. But I think it'll be good for me. I'm someone who, I thrive off the energy. I can feed off the fans."

Williams became the Brewers' closer in July 2022 after the club traded All-Star closer Josh Hader. He finished the year -- his first as an All-Star -- with a 1.93 ERA and 15 saves. In 2023, his first full season as a closer, Williams was an All-Star again and recorded a 1.53 ERA with 36 saves across 61 appearances. He then missed the first four months of the 2024 season with a stress fracture in his back before returning in late July, pitching a 1.25 ERA with 14 saves and a 43.2% strikeout rate in 22 games.

His season -- and Brewers tenure -- concluded in disappointment when he surrendered four runs in the ninth inning in the decisive Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series against the New York Mets, including a go-ahead three-run home run to Pete Alonso on his vaunted changeup.

Williams said he typically takes a vacation abroad after the season ends. After the Brewers' early playoff exit in October, however, he decided to stay in the United States, and coincidentally spent 10 days in New York City. He visited the Museum of Modern Art and the American Museum of Natural History. He enjoyed the restaurant scene. Ten days, he realized, wasn't enough to complete his tourist checklist.

He'll now have more time to explore the city. The question is whether his time in New York will stretch beyond 2025. Williams, a free agent next offseason, said he is open to a contract extension.

"I think if it's right for both sides, that's definitely always an option," Williams said. "Nothing has been discussed up until now so I can't really comment too much on that."