MILWAUKEE — Late in the third quarter of the Milwaukee Bucks' 104-91 win over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night, Giannis Antetokounmpo left the game with what the team described as a left calf strain and did not return.
Antetokounmpo's future status remains uncertain. Bucks head coach Doc Rivers said Antetokounmpo will undergo an MRI on his left leg to determine the severity of the injury.
”[The concern level is] Great, I would say that,” Rivers said. “He's Giannis. I think you guys probably feel the same way I do right now. So we just hope for the best.”
Bucks point guard Damian Lillard also echoed Rivers.
“Every time you see one of your teammates go down, it's a big concern,” Lillard said. “You know, we spend more time around each other than our families. That's the No. 1 thing, that's your best player, the most important player on our team. I think being a part was the most important thing in the match.”
With just under four minutes left in the third game, Celtics guard Derrick White sank a 3-point shot. After inbounding the ball to Damian Lillard, Antetokounmpo began running up the court and suddenly collapsed.
Antetokounmpo immediately grabbed his calf and remained on the field under the care of the Bucks' medical staff. He eventually stood up and was helped off the court by his teammates. Cameras in the tunnel showed him walking toward the locker room on his own, but he was limping considerably.
Antetokounmpo has missed just six games this season, but has battled nagging injuries in recent weeks. He most recently missed the April 5 game against the Toronto Raptors due to a left hamstring tendon injury, and was listed as likely to play in Tuesday's game due to the same issue.
It remains to be seen how long Antetokounmpo will remain sidelined. No player experiences or recovers from an injury in the same way, but Lillard tore his soleus muscle (the unique calf muscle Antetokounmpo pulled) during the 2022-23 season. After the game, Lillard announced he would be sidelined for two weeks.
“That hurt,” Lillard said of the injury. “Usually I can tolerate pain. I feel like I have a high pain tolerance. And when I did it, I started walking. It's not just that it hurts so much, it's that my muscles can't tolerate it. “So once I calmed down, I think I found a way to walk with a limp, but it feels weird. ”
The Bucks have already qualified for the playoffs, but their seeding has not yet been determined. After the win over the Celtics, they are now 48-31 on the season, 1.5 games behind the Orlando Magic and New York Knicks for the second seed in the Eastern Conference. The playoffs are scheduled to begin on April 20th, but the Bucks' opening series may not start until April 21st, depending on the schedule.
Until Antetokounmpo returns, whenever that may be, Khris Middleton said it will take a “cohesive effort” to win games.
“Just encourage him to do it right and not rush it and risk adding to the injury and making it worse,” Middleton said. “For us, we just have to find a way together to bridge that gap. There's not going to be another player to replace a player like that.”
