Giannis Leads Bucks To NBA Cup Final Against Oklahoma City
2 years ago 2 min read
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Giannis Antetokounmpo produced an impressive performance to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 110 – 102 win over the Atlanta Hawks to advance to the 2024 NBA Cup Final.
He recorded 32 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists in a dominant display to lead the Bucks to a final clash with the Oklahoma City Thunders on Tuesday.
Damian Lillard earned 25 points for the Bucks, and Brook Lopez recorded 16 points, while Trae Young led Atlanta with 35 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds.
Antetokounmpo, who is currently leading the NBA scoring charts, drew praises from his teammates following his impressive showing, and 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.
The victory was Bucks’ 12th in their last 15 games, recovering from their poor start to the season.
Antetokounmpo has hailed the team’s togetherness for the upturn in fortunes.
He said: “We trust one another. We trust in one another now. We play together. There’s no more hero ball. I think in the beginning of the season, we tried to do it by ourselves. We’re a very talented team so sometimes it had a bad effect on the team.
“The moment we figured it out that we got to compete as a team, we’ve got to move the ball as a team, we’ve got to play together, we’ve changed our season around. But we gotta keep going. The job’s not done.
“We were able to disrupt their offence, we were moving the ball, playing team basketball, getting to our spots, knocking a few shots down the stretch. That’s why we were able to get the win.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to win a game, I’m happy that I did because I feel like it translated to the whole team. You have 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.”
Giannis urged his teammates to keep their focus to ensure they come out victorious against Oklahoma City in the final on Tuesday.
“The only thing that matters right here is to get a win, and that’s the message within our team right now. Everybody got to stay locked in. Everybody got to stay locked in; the job’s not done.”
