Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 32 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 110-102 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday to advance to the NBA Cup finals.
The Greek big man also contributed nine assists, four blocks and one steal, shooting 10 of 15 from the field and 12 of 18 from the free throw line.
Milwaukee will compete for the championship on Tuesday in Las Vegas against the Oklahoma City Thunder, who defeated the Houston Rockets 111-96.
“We stopped. That’s the most important thing,” Antetokounmpo said. “They felt comfortable and got into their spots. We were able to break up their offense.
“We moved the ball, played team basketball, got to our spots, made some shots down the stretch. That’s why we were able to win.”
Bucks’ Damian Lillard scored 25 points and Brook Lopez added 16, while Trae Young scored 35 points, 10 for Atlanta. assists and 7 rebounds.
The Bucks went undefeated last year and reached the in-season tournament semifinals before losing to the Indiana Pacers, the only team to return to the Final Four this year.
They were inspired by NBA scoring leader Antetokounmpo and his desire after narrowly missing out on the Cup last year.
“Enjoy the game, take control and win the game one at a time. That’s it,” Antetokounmpo said of his words to his teammates. “If we compete, we win games.”
After starting with 2 wins and 8 losses, the Bucks currently have a record of 12 wins and 3 losses.
“We trust each other. We play together. No more hero ball,” Antetokounmpo said. “At the beginning of the season we tried to do it on our own. It reflected poorly on the team. We found we had to compete as a team, move the ball as a team and compete together.
“We have changed the season but we have to keep moving forward. The job is not done so far. We have to keep playing together and hopefully we can get better.”
Two dunks by Jaren Johnson late in the third quarter gave the Hawks an 83-82 lead entering the fourth quarter. Young scored 14 points in the third quarter and Lillard scored 11 points.
The game was still tense in the final minutes, but Antetokounmpo scored 6 points in a row, and the Bucks went on a 7-1 run, leading 103-96 with 3 minutes and 13 seconds left in the game.
Young responded with two free throws and a jumper, but Brook Lopez scored and Milwaukee led 105-100. Lillard made a floater from the free throw line to lead 107-100 with 23 seconds left.
The Bucks sealed the victory with free throws in the final seconds.
Run early in the morning
Antetokounmpo made two fast break layups, and the Bucks went on a 7-0 run, but the Hawks then scored 7 points in a row and went on a 21-9 run to take the lead.
At the beginning of the second quarter, the Bucks went on a 12-0 run to lead 38-28 and led 55-49 at halftime.
Lillard scored 10 points in the second quarter, Antetokounmpo scored 14 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists in the first half, and Young scored 12 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists for the Hawks in the first half.
