Milwaukee Stamps Their Ticket To The NBA Finals With A Win Over Atlanta; Will Take On The Suns

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It took 47 years, but the Milwaukee Bucks are back in the NBA Finals following Saturday's victory over the host Atlanta Hawks 118-107 that won them the series four games to two.

Milwaukee hasn't been in the NBA Finals since 1974 when they fell to the Boston Celtics four games to three.

Saturday's game was highlighted by Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday who combined for 59 points in the victory for Milwaukee.

The Bucks closed out the series minus injured Giannis Antetokounmpo, who missed his second straight game with a knee injury.

Milwaukee's win over the Hawks sets up a series with the Western champion Phoenix Suns in what will be a best-of-seven that will begin in Arizona on Tuesday night.

Phoenix defeated the Bucks twice in the regular season, winning 125-124 at home on February 10th and 128-127 in overtime at Milwaukee on April 19th.

With an overall better regular season record, the Suns will have home-court for the seven-game series. Phoenix was seeded second in the West, Milwaukee third in the East.

The teams actually met in the postseason prior, when Milwaukee was a team in the Western Conference. Seeded sixth, Milwaukee upset third-seeded Phoenix 2-0 in that 1978 first-round, best-of-three series.













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Matt has been a part of the Cleveland Sports landscape working in the media since 1994 when he graduated from broadcasting school. His coverage beats include the Cleveland Indians, Cleveland Browns and Cleveland Cavaliers. He's written three books, and won the "2020 AP Sports Stringer Lifetime Service Award."