Milwaukee Bucks guard Khris Middleton missed practice Monday because of illness, leaving his status for the NBA Cup final against the Oklahoma City Thunder somewhat unclear. The Bucks and Thunder play for the Cup on Tuesday night.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Giannis Antetokounmpo headline the NBA Cup finals. Both MVP candidates can utilize the national platform to boost their MVP cases. While the Thunder have been the league's best team, the Bucks are always a viable title threat and have recently played better.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have a chance to win the second NBA Cup with a win Tuesday over Milwaukee in Las Vegas and climb atop The Arizona Republic's NBA power rankings. A loss definitely won't drop them out of the top five. This is arguably the best team in the NBA.

Milwaukee Bucks star forward Khris Middleton is in jeopardy of missing Tuesday's NBA Cup title game. Midleton did not practice on Monday due to an illness. Middleton is coming off a lackluster performance off the bench in the semi-final game against the Atlanta Hawks.

The Milwaukee Bucks will play for the NBA Cup championship on Tuesday ... but is that really saying much? The four other teams in their group -- the Heat, Pacers, Pistons and Raptors -- have a combined record of 41-60 this season.

Bucks guard Khris Middleton missed practice Monday because of illness, leaving his status for the NBA Cup final against the Thunder somewhat unclear.