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.
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has missed the last two games. Listed on the injury report for each of those games with left foot soreness, James has also
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