Bucks must 'stay locked in' after reaching NBA Cup final, Antetokounmpo insists

Giannis Antetokounmpo urged the Milwaukee Bucks to "stay locked in" after victory over the Atlanta Hawks booked their place in the NBA Cup final.

Antetokounmpo scored 32 points as the Bucks sealed their passage to the championship match with a 110-102 victory in Las Vegas.

The power forward finished with 14 rebounds, nine assists and four blocks, while he was 10 of 15 from the field and 12 of 18 from the foul line.

The Bucks set up a showdown with the Oklahoma City Thunder in Tuesday's final after their 12th win in 15 games, but Antetokounmpo insists his team-mates must stay focused on the task in hand.

"I'll do whatever it takes to win a game," he said. "I'm happy that I did, because I feel like it translated to the whole team.

"You've got to do whatever is necessary to close this one out. I'm just proud of my team-mates. The way we started the game, we kind of set the tone that we were here to compete.

"The only thing that matters right here is to get a win, and that's the message within our team right now. Everybody's got to stay locked in; the job's not done."

Goodnight. pic.twitter.com/cIZQ41CHum

— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) December 15, 2024

The Hawks just came up short, despite an impressive performance from Trae Young, who chipped in with 35 points.

However, the point guard says his team-mates can take plenty of positives from their deep run in the NBA Cup.

"What we have done in this cup was really, really special, really good," he said. "We've really found the way we want to play and figured out the tempo we want to play at.

"It's been good. I feel like this cup was really good for us. For a young team to go as far as we did, we can, hopefully, use this as momentum going into the rest of the season."