The Milwaukee Bucks don’t know if they’re going to have Giannis Antetokounmpo, but they know where they’re going. For the first time since 1974 they go to the NBA finals. Antetokounmpo expect their second game in a row with a knee injury, the Bucks used sprints to open both halves, scoring 59 points in the Eastern Conference final on Saturday night from Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday en route to a 118-107 win over the host Atlanta Hawks. The Bucks won the series 4-2. The Bucks have thus earned the right to duel with western champion Phoenix Suns in a best-of-seven, which will give a clue on Tuesday in Arizona. “You have a focus and an advantage,” said Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer of his team. “That enabled us to keep playing. It’s impressive, but we still have more to do.” On the way to a 51:21 record in the West that was five games better than Milwaukee’s 46:26 in the East, the Suns swept two regular season thrillers from the Bucks and won 125-124 at home on February 10 and on April 19, 128-127 in the Milwaukee overtime season, the Suns have home advantage in the series. Phoenix was ranked second in the west and Milwaukee third in the east. Phoenix, who recorded a 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday, will have another advantage in the final. The Suns will rest six days before Game 1 on Tuesday, while the Bucks will have less than 72 hours to travel and prepare. “It’s a quick turnaround, but we’ll be ready,” promised Budenholzer, who noted his team was struggling after enjoying a six and three day break from game 1 of each of their last two series. “We had long, longer breaks between each lap. I’m pretty excited to try it out without one. Maybe we can be the team that is on the rhythm.” The Hawks needed a win to stay alive and brought back Star Guard Trae Young from a foot injury for Game 6 against the Bucks. But that didn’t matter. He was clearly out of rhythm, shooting just 4 for 17 total and 0-for 6 on 3-pointers on the way to 14 points and nine assists that tie the game up no doubt he drove Middleton’s 32 points and Holidays 27 to a second Consecutive win after the Hawks rallied to tie the series 2-2. Success! An email was sent to with a link to confirm the list subscription. Error! An error occurred while processing your request. “I know they missed Giannis, but Milwaukee is a really good team,” said Hawks coach Nate McMillan. “This team was on a mission. They have been on a mission for the past few years.” As in the first quarter, when they took the lead 15: 4, the Bucks used a spurt in the third period to build a double-digit lead at the beginning of the game. Middleton scored all of the scoring. After Clint Capela hit the Hawks within 47-45 in the first minute of the second half, Middleton took the lead, hitting consecutive 3-pointers and a pair of 2-pointers, which included a three-point play for a sandwich on personal 13 -Points run and a 15-point lead. He wasn’t finished yet. The All-Star striker then followed a Young layup with another 3-pointer, giving him 16 Milwaukee points in a row and the Bucks a 63-47 lead. With holiday bombing in three 3-pointers of their own, the lead was 91-72 by the end of the quarter and the Bucks packed their summer clothes for a trip to Phoenix. “One of the biggest things we’ve done in the last two games was playing for him,” said Pat Connaughton of Antetokounmpo. “For everything he gives … the blood, the sweat and the tears. We have his back. We have a real team to hold on to while he struggles after injury shows.” Hawks made a desperate run behind two Cam Reddish 3-pointers to get to 107-101 at 3:23. But Holiday stopped the rally with a competitive layup 18 seconds later, Middleton dropped two free throws and the Hawks never got closer than seven after that. “A feeling I’ve never felt before,” said Holiday during a court interview. Then he turned to his teammates and said, “Let’s give Phoenix one, baby.” Connaughton (13), Brook Lopez (13), Bobby Portis (12) and Jeff Teague (11) also scored double digits for the Bucks. which outperformed the Hawks by 46.1 percent to 41.3 percent. Reddish had 21 points and Bogdan Bogdanovic 20 to overtake the Hawks, who have never reached the NBA finals since moving to Atlanta. John Collins had a 13 point double with 11 rebounds double for Atlanta, while Capela added 14 points and Danilo Gallinari 13 – Field Level Media
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