Giannis Antetokounmpo’s stellar efficiency on Saturday propelled the Milwaukee Bucks into the NBA Cup last, the place they may face Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder for the championship.
Greek star Antetokounmpo scored 32 factors and grabbed 14 rebounds to spark the Bucks over the Atlanta Hawks 110-102 whereas Canadian guard Gilgeous-Alexander netted a game-high 32 factors to steer the Thunder over Houston 111-96 within the semi-finals at Las Vegas.
The Bucks and Thunder will meet for the crown in Las Vegas on Tuesday.
“I just wanted to be aggressive through all the ups and downs, highs and lows, and it paid off,” stated Gilgeous-Alexander. “Hopefully we can do the same thing on Tuesday.”
“If we play defense, we give ourselves a chance every night. We just have to play hard, play together and have fun.”
NBA scoring chief Antetokounmpo additionally added 9 assists, 4 blocks and a steal whereas taking pictures 10-of-15 from the ground and 12-of-18 from the free-throw line.
“We got stops. That was the most important thing,” Antetokounmpo stated. “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.”
The Bucks additionally had 25 factors from Damian Lillard and 16 extra from Brook Lopez whereas Trae Young led Atlanta with 35 factors, 10 assists and 7 rebounds.
“I didn’t force it because Giannis was getting downhill early,” Lillard stated. “I was moving the ball, they were giving me a lot of attention and guys were getting open looks. I knew eventually I’d get opportunities and they would go in, and they did.”
The Bucks, who made an unbeaten run to final yr’s inaugural semifinals of the in-season match earlier than dropping to Indiana, had been the one group to make a return journey to this yr’s final 4.
“This was a big game. Redeem ourselves for last year against this great Atlanta team,” Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton stated. “It was great. It was a back-and-forth game but to get a win after a tough tournament and close it out the way we did was great.”
They had been impressed by Antetokounmpo and his starvation after final yr’s Cup near-miss.
“Enjoy the game, take it a possession at a time and win the game. That’s it,” Antetokounmpo stated on what he advised his teammates. “If we compete, we’ll win the game.”
After a 2-8 begin to the marketing campaign, the Bucks have gone 12-3 since.
“We trust one another. We play together. There’s no more hero ball,” Antetokounmpo stated. “In the start of the season we tried to do it by ourselves. It had a nasty impact on the group. We discovered we’ve to compete as a group, transfer the ball as a group, compete collectively.
“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 within the third quarter gave the Hawks an 83-82 lead coming into the fourth.
The recreation stayed on a knife’s edge till Antetokounmpo had six factors 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 however Lopez scored to provide Milwaukee a 105-100 edge and Lillard’s floater from the free-throw line sealed Atlanta’s destiny.
Thunder strike Rockets
Gilgeous-Alexander shot 8-of-21 from the ground, 2-of-6 from 3-point vary, sank 14-of-15 free throws and added eight rebounds, six assists and 5 steals to spark NBA Western Conference chief Oklahoma City over Houston.
“We stayed with our principles,” Gilgeous-Alexander stated. “We knew we would be able to get enough shots and kick it. We focused on that the whole night to give ourselves a chance and that’s what happened.”
The Rockets led 42-41 at half time, Houston’s protection holding Oklahoma City to its lowest first-half complete thus far this season.
But Gilgeous-Alexander scored 12 factors within the third quarter and the Thunder matched their largest result in that time at 75-69 coming into the fourth quarter and pulled away on the end.
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