LAS VEGAS — 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, 9 assists and 4 blocks for the Bucks, who improved to 11-1 all time in NBA Cup games — the only loss coming in last year’s semifinals.
Brook Lopez scored 16 for Milwaukee.
Trae Young had 35 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds for the Hawks, who got 15 points and 10 rebounds from Jalen Johnson and 15 points from De’Andre Hunter.
Hawks: 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 has drawn at least 10 fouls in a game 52 times. In that span, every other Hawk combined has done it once.
Bucks: 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 Clint 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 or Rockets 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.