MANILA – The Milwaukee Bucks are heading to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1974 after their 118-107 Game 6 Eastern Conference finals triumph over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night (Sunday in the Philippines) at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.
With the win, the Bucks have secured the right to battle the Phoenix Suns in the Finals, where Game 1 is slated on Tuesday (Wednesday in the Philippines) at the Phoenix Suns Arena in Phoenix, Arizona.
Khris Middleton tallied 32 points to go with seven rebounds and three steals, while Jrue Holiday chipped in 27 points, nine rebounds, nine assists, four steals, and two blocks for the Bucks.
Brook Lopez and Pat Connaughton posted 13 points each, while Bobby Portis Jr. and Jeff Teague contributed 12 and 11 points, respectively, for Milwaukee, which ended the series at 4-2 and played without Giannis Antetokounmpo due to hyperextended left knee.
The Bucks surged to a 15-4 start behind hits from Portis and Holiday as the Hawks chopped it to 16-18. However, conversions from Lopez widened Milwaukee’s lead anew at 26-16 late in the period.
The Bucks were clinging 36-27 gap behind three-point conversions from Teague and Connaughton, but the Hawks rallied to trim the deficit to 45-47 at the onset of the third canto.
Middleton’s back-to-back hits earned Bucks an 81-86 advantage, which stretched to 100-80 on a Portis hit. The Hawks made their last push behind Cam Redish to come to within 101-109, but baskets from Middleton, Lopez, and P.J. Tucker sealed the victory and the Finals seat for the Bucks.
Reddish scored 21 points, including six three-point hits, while Bogdan Bogdanovic added 20 markers as Clint Capela and Trae Young got 14 markers apiece for the Hawks.
BOX SCORE:
MILWAUKEE 118 – Middleton 32, Holiday 27, Lopez 13, Connaughton 13, Portis 12, Teague 11, Tucker 5, Forbes 5, T. Antetokounmpo 0.
ATLANTA 107 – Reddish 21, Bogdanovic 20, Capela 14, Young 14, Collins 13, Gallinari 13, Huerter 5, Williams 4, Okongwu 3, Hill 0, Dunn 0, Fernando 0, Mays 0, Knight 0.
QUARTERSCORES:
28-24, 47-43, 91-72, 118-107./PN
