When Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo suffered a non-contact injury in the second half of the team’s home game against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night, the entire city held its breath. The two-time league Most Valuable Player was thought to have strained his Achilles tendon, but a left calf injury was eventually shown to have occurred.
After a few hours, an MRI revealed that Milwaukee’s Achilles tendon had not sustained any significant damage.
After 29 minutes of play, Antetokounmpo finished the Boston game with 15 points, seven assists, eight rebounds, two steals, and two blocks. The Bucks defeated the East-leading Celtics 104-91 despite the loss of the 29-year-old forward thanks to a well-rounded offensive effort from the other starters. In just 22 minutes of play, Bobby Portis came off the bench to contribute 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Pat Beverley also stepped up to lead the team with 20 points.
Star point guard Damian Lillard of Milwaukee remarked following the game, “Anytime you see one of your teammates fall down, it’s I believe a tremendous degree of concern” (h/t ESPN). We interact with each other more often than we do with our families. It seemed to be the most important thing. And then at this stage of the season, for it to be your greatest player and the most vital member of our team, it was like, “Oh, (damn),” especially since no one else was present.
Although the Bucks should be happy about that, it is still unclear when Antetokounmpo will be able to play again. It is not ideal for Milwaukee, especially considering it is still vying for the No. 2 spot in the Eastern Conference, because he will probably miss at least one game. With a 48-31 record as of right now, the Bucks are two games clear of the No. 4 Orlando Magic and No. 5 Cleveland Cavaliers in the East and just one game ahead of the No. 3 New York Knicks.
Had Antetokounmpo finished the regular season with one game remaining, he would have finished with 30.4 points, 11.5 rebounds, 6.6 assists, and a 61.1 percent field goal percentage.
This Wednesday, the Bucks will host the Magic in their penultimate home game of the regular season. They then have back-to-back road games against the Magic and Oklahoma City Thunder to finish their schedule before the playoffs.
