NBA: Bucks eliminate Hawks and qualify for first Finals since 1974 | NBA 2020

With this victory in Atlanta, the Bucks finished the Eastern Conference finals by 4 wins to 2 and will start the final battle for the ring against the Suns on Tuesday.

With their leader Giannis Antetokounmpo injured, the Milwaukee Bucks they beat 118-107 Atlanta Hawks and they sealed, 47 to the after, his return at NBA Finals, in which they will face the Phoenix Suns.

With this win in Atlanta, the Bucks The finals of the Eastern Conference by 4 wins to 2 and they will start on Tuesday the final fight for the ring against the Suns, champions of the West.

Listen to him Khris Middleton, with 32 points, and the base Jrue Holiday, with 27 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists, compensated for the absence of Antetokounmpo, whose presence in his long-awaited first Finals is in doubt due to his knee injury.

The Hawks they recovered on Saturday urgently to Bring young, down in the last two games, but the stellar point guard had a gray performance with 14 points and 4/17 in field goals. “He wanted to try. The effort he put in is more than I expected,” said the Atlanta technician, Nate McMillan. “I left everything on the track despite the injury. At the end I was exhausted.”

In their third Finals, the Bucks They will try to achieve a second ring after winning in 1971 from the hand of two of the best players in history: Lew Alcindor Y Oscar Robertson. Alcindor, who later changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Y Oscar Robertson led Milwaukee to other Finals in 1974, in which they lost to the Boston Celtics.

“I’ve never felt this,” Holiday said. “As kids, we all wanted to be a part of this, playing the Finals is amazing.”

The Bucks, who finished in third place in the East in the regular season, overcame in the last two games the absence of Antetokounmpo, who suffers from a hyperextension of the left knee that has him out for an indefinite period of time.

The two-time winner of the MVP (Most Valuable Player) award, coveted by half the league, bet to stay in Milwaukee by renewing his contract last December and now he is rewarded with qualification to his first Finals.

Your technician, Mike Budenholzersaid that the availability of Antetokounmpo In the Finals it will be decided “day by day”.

“These guys have worked all year for this, they deserve to play the Finals (…) But we have more work to do,” he said. Budenholzer with the Eastern Conference Champions trophy in hand.

Trae Young’s sad comeback

The Bucks They got off to a strong start trying to maintain the momentum of their resounding triumph on Thursday. Jrue Holiday re-dial the defensive tone (4 steals and 2 blocks in the game) and impose a fierce rhythm in attack.

Milwaukee quickly took a two-digit lead (26-16) taking advantage of Bring young He would start at half throttle, physically testing himself for the bruise on his right foot. Insecure in the opening bars, the always daring Young He reached the break with just 5 points (2/8 in field goals) and 3 losses, earning a technique for protesting in the second quarter.

With their leader turned off, the Serbian Bogdan Bogdanovic (20 points) commanded the attack of the Hawks until they reached the break with four points behind (47-43).

Khris Middleton, hero of the third party for Milwaukee with 20 points in the last quarter, he re-ignited on Saturday after returning from the locker room.

The escort massacred Atlanta with 16 points in a row, including three triples, and a total of 23 in the third quarter that drove Milwaukee up to a 19-point lead (91-72) in the absence of the last period. Pushed by their hobby, the young Hawks They brought out the competitive spirit that made them the revelation of these playoffs and they got back into the game with an 11-2 run.

The young forward Cam Reddish, who returned to the Hawks in this series after four months injured, led the offense and Atlanta was eight points behind (109-101) with three minutes remaining.

With the State Farm Arena abuzz, the Bucks they kept calm and took advantage of Bring young He did not redirect his erratic shooting night, in which he missed all six of his 3-point attempts.

Veteran PJ Tucker nailed a 3-pointer from the corner to take the lead to 10 points in the final minute, McMillan throw in the towel and relieve Young so that he would receive a standing ovation from the fans for his amazing first playoffs.

At 22, the point guard averaged 29.8 points and 9.5 assists to propel Atlanta, fifth-ranked in the East, in the series against Los Angeles. Knicks and the Sixers, the best team in the conference.

The Finals will kick off on Tuesday in Phoenix and can be extended until July 22 if they are defined in a seventh game. Three of the finalist figures, Holiday Y Middleton (Bucks) y Devin Booker (Suns), are part of the American team that will compete in the Tokyo Olympics (July 23 – August 8), where they will have to travel urgently after the Finals.