Diving for loose balls. Blocking dunk attempts. Getting tackled by airborne teammates. Giannis Antetokounmpo had a very eventful final few minutes of the NBA Cup semifinals.

He shrugged it all off, too.

“I just tried to compete,” Antetokounmpo said.

That’s what he accomplished, and it’s why he and the Milwaukee Bucks will play for the NBA championship on Tuesday night.

On Saturday, the Bucks defeated the Atlanta Hawks 110-102 in the NBA Cup semifinals thanks to a spectacular stat line from the two-time MVP and current NBA scoring leader, who had 32 points, 14 rebounds, nine assists, and four blocks.

But it was two crucial plays in the final minutes – diving on the floor to assist force a turnover with 6:35 left and rejecting Clint Capela’s dunk attempt near the rim four minutes later – that ensured the Bucks would compete for the championship.

“Winning plays,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “We never show film after a game, and we showed the winning plays today. It takes what it takes. I wish you could script what it takes.”

If there was any question as to whether the NBA Cup matters to the Bucks, and to a generational player like Antetokounmpo – he of the $49 million salary this season, already the holder of a championship ring and a member of the NBA’s 75th anniversary team – there were emphatic answers on Saturday.

He subbed in for his final shift with 8:17 left and many of those big plays, the “winning plays” Rivers referenced, down the stretch had his fingerprints all over them. Antetokounmpo’s lob that Brook Lopez swatted in with his left hand came about a minute into that final stint, a play that put the Bucks up for good in what had been a back-and-forth final quarter to that point.

He dove at Jalen Johnson’s feet to create a turnover not long afterward, then had an assist on Andre Jackson Jr.’s 3-pointer that put Milwaukee up 94-90 on the ensuing possession.

And the capper was with 2:35 left, when the Hawks threw a lob to Capela – and not only did Antetokounmpo block the dunk try, he did so while Lopez barreled into his teammate’s side and knocked him to the court.

“Just got to keep on doing things to help your team win,” Antetokounmpo said.

“Sometimes it´s going to be a block, sometimes it´s going to be a shot, sometimes it´s going to be a pass. It doesn´t matter what it is. What matters is just being able to be selfless, sacrifice your body, your own ambitions, goals, to help your team win.”

And because that’s what he did, a chance at the NBA Cup awaits