Giannis Antetokounmpo sidelined at least one week with left knee hyperextension
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Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo has been diagnosed with a hyperextended left knee and a bone bruise and will be re-evaluated in one week, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania on Tuesday.
Head coach Doc Rivers said pregame Tuesday that imaging showed no structural damage, but he did not offer a definitive timetable for the two-time MVP’s return. “The good news was it was really a good image. There was no damage,” Rivers said before the Bucks faced the Cleveland Cavaliers. “But I don’t know the next part.”
Antetokounmpo, 31, hurt the knee Sunday when he landed awkwardly after a dunk during the third quarter against the Indiana Pacers. Although he indicated he could keep playing, the team kept him out for the remainder of that contest.
Tuesday’s matchup with Cleveland is the 32nd game Antetokounmpo has missed this season, the highest total of his career. Earlier in the year, right calf strains forced additional absences. Since returning on March 2, he appeared in six games, averaging 25.7 points, 8.5 rebounds and 4.7 assists in 27 minutes while the club tried to manage his workload. “He was trying to fit 35 minutes into 20,” Rivers said. “Even the last game he was still on I think 28, which is tight for a coach.”
Through 36 appearances this season, Antetokounmpo is averaging 27.6 points, 9.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists.
His presence has not been enough to lift Milwaukee into the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Entering Tuesday, the Bucks were 11th in the East, 5½ games behind the Charlotte Hornets for the final play-in spot. The team is 11-20 without Antetokounmpo and 17-19 when he plays.
The Bucks were also without center Myles Turner on Tuesday because of a right calf strain. The game was Milwaukee’s 68th of the season, leaving 14 remaining.
Asked whether the Bucks might weigh shutting Antetokounmpo down if the postseason slips further out of reach, Rivers replied, “That’s a good question. I don’t have the answer, but it’s a very good question. Honestly, that’s all I have. … It’s something we will talk about.”
Source: ESPN
