A dominating performance by Giannis Antetokounmpo on Saturday led the Milwaukee Bucks into the NBA Cup final, where they are to face Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder for the title.
Greek star Antetokounmpo scored 32 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to spark the Bucks over the Atlanta Hawks 110-102 while Canadian guard Gilgeous-Alexander netted a game-high 32 points to lead the Thunder over Houston 111-96 in the semi-finals at Las Vegas.
The Bucks and Thunder are to meet for the crown in Las Vegas early Wednesday morning Taipei time.
Photo: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images/USA Today
“I just wanted to be aggressive through all the ups and downs, highs and lows, and it paid off,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “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,” he said.
NBA scoring leader Antetokounmpo also added nine assists, four blocks and a steal while shooting 10-of-15 from the floor and 12-of-18 from the free-throw line.
Photo: AFP
“We got stops. That was the most important thing,” Antetokounmpo said. “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,” he said.
The Bucks also had 25 points from Damian Lillard and 16 more from Brook Lopez while Trae Young led Atlanta with 35 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds.
Photo: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images/USA Today
“I didn’t force it, because Giannis was getting downhill early,” Lillard said. “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 last year’s inaugural semi-finals of the in-season tournament before losing to Indiana, were the only team to make a return trip to this year’s last four.
“This was a big game. Redeem ourselves for last year against this great Atlanta team,” Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton said. “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 were inspired by Antetokounmpo and his hunger after last year’s Cup near-miss.
“Enjoy the game, take it a possession at a time and win the game. That’s it,” Antetokounmpo said on what he told his teammates. “If we compete, we’ll win the game.”
After a 2-8 start to the campaign, the Bucks have gone 12-3 since.
“We trust one another. We play together. There’s no more hero ball,” Antetokounmpo said. “In the beginning of the season we tried to do it by ourselves. It had a bad effect on the team. We figured out we have to compete as a team, move the ball as a team, compete together.”
“We’ve changed our season around, but we’ve got to keep going,” he said. “The job is not done so far. We’ve got to keep playing together and hope we get better.”
Two Jalen Johnson dunks late in the third quarter gave the Hawks an 83-82 lead entering the fourth.
The game stayed on a knife’s edge until Antetokounmpo had six points 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, but Lopez scored to give Milwaukee a 105-100 edge and Lillard’s floater from the free-throw line sealed Atlanta’s fate.
Gilgeous-Alexander shot eight-of-21 from the floor, two-of-six from three-point range, sank 14-of-15 free throws and added eight rebounds, six assists and five steals to spark NBA Western Conference leader Oklahoma City over Houston.
“We stayed with our principles,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “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 defense holding Oklahoma City to its lowest first-half total so far this season.
However, Gilgeous-Alexander scored 12 points in the third quarter and the Thunder matched their largest lead to that point at 75-69 entering the fourth quarter and pulled away at the finish.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
RSS