LAS VEGAS — Giannis Antetokounmpo tallied 30 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to the NBA Cup final with a 110-102 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday.
Damian Lillard added 25 points for the Bucks, making 8 of 21 attempts from the field and 5 of his 14 attempts from three. Trae Young led the Hawks with 35 points and 10 assists on 9-of-18 shooting. Young fell three rebounds short of a triple-double with seven, all of which came in the first half.
Milwaukee will face the Oklahoma Thunder in Tuesday’s title game.
The Bucks outscored the Hawks 28-19 in a highly defensive fourth quarter to secure their trip to the final after losing an eight-point lead in the third. Antetokoumpo scored 10 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter to push the Bucks over the hump.
Young scored 14 points in the third quarter, helping the Hawks erase Milwaukee’s lead. Onyeka Okungwu buried a 3-pointer to tie the game at 78 and the Hawks regained an 80-78 lead on a Jalen Johnson dunk with 32.6 seconds remaining in the quarter. However, Johnson was awarded a technical foul for his response to the basket and Lillard went to the line for a free throw that trimmed Atlanta’s lead to 80-79. Johnson, who was fouled, then made his free throw.
Lillard promptly put the Bucks back ahead 82-81 on their next possession, draining a 3-pointer with 15 seconds remaining in the third. Johnson made up for his transgression and put the Hawks ahead 83-82 with a tip-in in the quarter’s closing seconds.
The Hawks led 28-26 after the first quarter, but Milwaukee outscored them by eight points in the second quarter to take a 55-49 lead to halftime. Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 14 points in the first half, shooting 5-of-8 from the field while scoring seven points in each of the first two quarters. Young led the Hawks with 12 points in the first half and was already nearing a triple-double at halftime with seven rebounds and seven assists.
Milwaukee shot 39-of-86 (45.3 percent) from the field for the game, making 14 of its 45 attempts from 3-point range. They outscored the Hawks 22-15 in fast-break points and had a 47-44 outrebounding edge. Atlanta shot 42.7, making 10-of-24 attempts from beyond the arc.
–Will Despart, Field Level Media
