Giannis Antetokounmpo had 32 points and was an assist away from a triple-double, Damian Lillard added 25 and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Atlanta Hawks 110-102 on Saturday to earn a spot in the NBA Cup championship game.
Antetokounmpo finished with 14 rebounds, nine assists and four blocks for the Bucks, who improved to 11-1 all-time in NBA Cup games – the only loss coming in last year’s semi-finals.
Brook Lopez scored 16 for Milwaukee.
Trae Young had 35 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds for the Hawks, who got 15 points and 10 rebounds from Jalen Johnson and 15 points from De’Andre Hunter.
Young drew 11 fouls in the game, a season-high. He drew 10 fouls in two other games this season; the Hawks won both of those. Since Young joined the NBA, he’s drawn at least 10 fouls in a game 52 times. Every other Hawk, combined, in that span has done it once.
Antetokounmpo was brilliant, shooting 10 of 15 from the field and 12 of 18 from the foul line. And Bobby Portis provided his usual boost off the bench with 10 points and nine rebounds in 23 minutes.
Antetokounmpo blocked an alley-oop dunk try by Capela at the rim with 2:35 left, preserving what was a five-point Bucks lead.
Going back to last season, including playoffs, Milwaukee had lost 20 consecutive games when trailing entering the fourth quarter. The Bucks trailed 83-82 going into the fourth on Saturday.
The Bucks will play either the Thunder in Tuesday’s championship game before returning to regular season play on Friday at the Cavaliers. The Hawks return to regular season play Thursday at the Spurs.
Houston Rockets 96-111 Oklahoma City Thunder
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 20 of his 32 points in the second half, and the Thunder pulled away late Saturday night to defeat the Rockets 111-96 and advance to the NBA Cup championship.
The Thunder take a five-game winning streak into Tuesday night’s final against the Bucks. The title game does not count in the league standings.
Isaiah Hartenstein added 21 points for the Thunder, Jalen Williams scored 20 and Luguentz Dort finished with 19 points and nine rebounds.
Amen Thompson led Houston with 19 points, one of six Rockets in double figures, and Alperen Sengun had 13 points and 11 rebounds.
The Rockets and Thunder have two of the three best records in the Western Conference, making Saturday’s second semi-final a potential playoff preview.
Fred VanVleet’s three-point shooting woes continued. He made 6 of 29 in his previous three games and missed his first nine shots from three and finished 1 of 11 against OKC.
Gilgeous-Alexander entered this game averaging 30.2 points and shooting 51.5% but struggled to find his offensive game early. He found a way to get to the free throw line, making 14 of 15 to help surpass his season average.
Oklahoma City went on a 13-3 run to go ahead 97-82 with 4:57 left and break open what was a close game.
The Thunder scored 70 points in the second half. That second-half surge enabled Oklahoma City to turn a 42-41 halftime deficit into a fairly easy victory.