Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 32 points and grabbed 14 rebounds on Saturday to spark the Milwaukee Bucks into the NBA Cup final with a 110-102 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. The Greek big man also added nine assists, four blocks, and a steal while shooting 10-of-15 from the floor and 12-of-18 from the free throw line. Milwaukee will play for the title on Tuesday in Las Vegas against the winner of Saturday’s later Vegas semi-final between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets.
“We got stops. That was the most important thing,” Antetokounmpo said. “They were feeling comfortable, getting to their spots. We were able to disrupt their offense. We were moving the ball, playing team basketball, getting to our spots, knocking down a few shots down the stretch. That’s why we were able to get the win.”
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The Bucks also had 25 points from Damian Lillard and 16 more from Brook Lopez, while Trae Young led Atlanta with 35 points, 10 assists, and seven rebounds. The Bucks, who made an unbeaten run to last year’s inaugural semi-finals of the in-season tournament before losing to Indiana, were the only team to make a return trip to this year’s last four. They were inspired by NBA scoring leader Antetokounmpo and his hunger after last year’s Cup near miss.
“Enjoy the game, take it a possession at a time and win the game. That’s it,” Antetokounmpo said on what he told his teammates. “If we compete, we’ll win the game.” After a 2-8 start to the campaign, the Bucks have gone 12-3 since.
“We trust one another. We play together. There’s no more hero ball,” Antetokounmpo said. “In the beginning of the season we tried to do it by ourselves. It had a bad effect on the team. We figured out we have to compete as a team, move the ball as a team, compete together. We’ve changed our season around, but we’ve got to keep going. The job is not done so far. We’ve got to keep playing together and hope we get better.”
Two Jalen Johnson dunks late in the third quarter gave the Hawks an 83-82 lead entering the fourth. Young scored 14 points in the third quarter and Lillard netted 11. The game stayed on a knife’s edge into the final minutes, but Antetokounmpo had six points in a 7-1 Bucks run for a 103-96 lead with 3:13 to play. Young answered with two free throws and a jumper, but Brook Lopez scored to give Milwaukee a 105-100 edge, and Lillard sank a driving floater from the free throw line for a 107-100 lead with 23 seconds remaining. The Bucks drained free throws down the stretch to secure the victory.
– Big runs early – Antetokounmpo scored two fast-break layups in a 7-0 Bucks run to start the contest, but the Hawks answered with the next seven as part of a 21-9 run to seize the lead. The Bucks began the second quarter with a 12-0 run for a 38-28 edge and led 55-49 at half-time. Lillard scored 10 points in the second quarter, while Antetokounmpo had 14 points, eight rebounds, and five assists in the first half, and Young had 12 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists for the Hawks in the first half.
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