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Jamal Collier, ESPN
LAS VEGAS — Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 32 points and finished an assist shy of a triple-double, but it was his “winning plays” down the stretch that helped will the Milwaukee Bucks to a 110-102 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday to clinch a spot in the NBA Cup championship game.
Antetokounmpo added 14 rebounds, 9 assists and 4 blocks, including a spectacular rejection of an alley-oop dunk from Clint Capela at the rim with 2:35 remaining in the game, preserving what was then a five-point Bucks lead. Antetokounmpo also drew praise from his teammates and coaching staff for diving on a loose ball to secure a steal and prevent the ball from going out of bounds with about 6:30 remaining in the fourth.
“Winning plays,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said after the game. “You can’t script any of that stuff before the game, but you just got to keep teaching that it just takes what it takes every night.”
Milwaukee advances to the championship game on Tuesday night, avenging a loss in last season’s semifinals in Las Vegas to the Pacers. The Bucks are 11-1 all time in NBA Cup games and will face the winner of Houston/Oklahoma City.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to win a game,” Antetokounmpo said after the game. “I’m happy that I did, because I feel like it translated to the whole team. You got to do whatever is necessary to close this one out. I’m just proud of my teammates. The way we started the game, we kind of set the tone that we were here to compete.”
Several Bucks players said the team arrived to Las Vegas more focused this season, ready to settle what Antetokounmpo called “unfinished business” from last season, but also to take care of business in an atmosphere that would simulate a playoff game.
“We probably looked a little sharper this time around,” said Bucks star Damian Lillard, who added 25 points and seven assists. “This time we came into it remembering our last experience. We came correct. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy playing against a good team, but we prepared, and it just felt familiar.”
The Hawks actually had the lead heading into the fourth quarter, thanks to a masterful performance from Trae Young, who had 14 points in the third period. But Milwaukee outscored Atlanta 12-3 during clutch time to seal the win. Young finished with 35 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds, and although the Hawks were preparing to go home after the loss, Young said he was proud of what the team had accomplished by making a run to the Cup semifinals.
“What we have done in this Cup was really, really special, really good,” Young said. “We’ve really found the way we want to play and figured out the tempo we want to play at.
“It’s been good. I feel like this Cup was really good for us. For a young team to go as far as we did, we can really use this as hopefully momentum going into the rest of the season.”
Making it to the championship was also an accomplishment for the Bucks, especially considering they started the season with a 2-8 record through their first 10 games. But also Rivers made it clear for weeks that the Bucks were taking aim at the NBA Cup and planned on winning it.
“It’s a competition, man, and you want your team to be competitive,” Rivers said. “You want them to accept the challenge, that’s all I’ve been talking about…. That’s what I’m proud of for our guys.
Even in the aftermath of their victory Saturday, Antetokounmpo offered his team a reminder that they still had one more game to win and take home the championship, invoking another late NBA legend: Kobe Bryant when he said “the job’s not finished.”
“The only thing that matters right here is to get a win, and that’s the message within our team right now,” Antetokounmpo said. “Everybody got to stay locked in. Everybody got to stay locked in; the job’s not done.”
