Bucks Eliminate Hawks and Advance to the NBA Finals for the 1st Time Since 1974

The Milwaukee Bucks were without Giannis Antetokounmpo for Games 5 and 6 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals, but the rest of the team stepped up and took control of the situation. Milwaukee won both games, including the decisive Game 6 on July 3rd with a 118-107 victory that propelled the Bucks to their first NBA Finals appearance since 1974.

The Hawks had their own injury situation with their best player as well during the series. Trae Young missed Games 4 and 5 with a bone bruise, but with elimination staring the Hawks in the face in Game 6, he returned to the lineup. But Young clearly wasn’t himself, scoring 14 points with nine assists in 35 minutes, compared to 48 points and 11 assists in Game 1. Jrue Holiday had 25 points and 13 assists in Game 5 and scored 27 in Game 6 for Milwaukee, Brook Lopez scored a career playoff high of 33 in Game 5, and Khris Middleton scored 26 in Game 5 and 32 in Game 6.

This is just the second Finals appearance for Milwaukee; the first one was in 1971. That year, the Bucks featured future Hall of Famers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (known at that time as Lew Alcindor) and Oscar Robertson. Milwaukee swept the then Baltimore Bullets (now the Washington Wizards) in four game to win the franchises’ only NBA Title to date. Milwaukee lost in the 1974 Finals to the Boston Celtics.

Milwaukee will play the Western Conference champion Phoenix Suns in the Finals. Both franchises began play in the 1968-69 seasons. This is just the third trip to the Finals for Phoenix; they lost to Boston in the 1975-76 Finals and to the Chicago Bulls in the 1992-93 Finals. The Suns will have home court advantage; Game 1 will be in Phoenix on July 6th. Giannis is listed as day to day as he recovers from his hyperextended left knee injury.