The Milwaukee Bucks are still holding their breath for the official diagnosis of superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo after he suffered a scary left knee injury in the third quarter of their Game 4 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. Antetokounmpo will get further evaluation on his knee on Wednesday to determine the severity of his injury and just how long the injury will keep him out.
Of course, everybody is hoping for the best for The Greek Freak and that he avoided any major injury. Nevertheless, his status for the rest of the series and possibly the NBA Finals is in serious jeopardy.
Even if the Bucks won't have Antetokounmpo for the rest of the Eastern Conference Finals, the door is still very much open for Milwaukee to advance to the championship round. Here are three reasons why the Bucks will still make the NBA Finals even without their franchise superstar.
1. Atlanta's superstar is injured too
Trae Young is out for Atlanta as well with a bone bruise in his right ankle and was unable to go for Game 4. The Hawks have given no indication when Young will be able to return, but they are likely taking this by a game-to-game approach.
Young tried to give it a go on Tuesday night, but ultimately sat on the sidelines. Despite playing without their superstar point guard, Atlanta still controlled the game from the get-go even before Antetokounmpo's unfortunate injury. Lou Williams filled in nicely for the injured Young and should continue to do so if the latter continues to miss time.
Nonetheless, should both Young and Antetokounmpo both miss the rest of the series, this almost evens out the playing field in the Eastern Conference Finals, as unfortunate as it sounds. Sure, Atlanta absolutely dominated Milwaukee even before Antetokounmpo's exit in the third quarter, but the Bucks should be able to regroup when they return home for Game 5.
2. Milwaukee still has home-court advantage
As mentioned above, the Bucks can at least look forward to playing in front of their home fans at Fiserv Forum for the pivotal Game 5 of the East Finals. Milwaukee has won all of its home games in the 2021 playoffs, save for the Game 1 loss to these Hawks.
Nonetheless, the Bucks have played tremendously at home in this postseason, having gone 6-1 so far. Despite losing Game 1 in their building to Atlanta, they followed it up with a 34-point drubbing of the Hawks in Game 2.
In addition, should this series go the distance, Milwaukee will also have the luxury of playing Game 7 at home.
3. The Bucks have the two best players in this series if the Hawks don't have Trae Young
If the Hawks won't have Trae Young for the rest of the series as well, the Bucks will have the two best players in this series in Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday.
Middleton and Holiday are capable of putting up big scoring nights and making a huge impact on the other end of the floor as well. Holiday was terrific in their two home games so far this series, averaging 27.5 points and 8.5 assists in Games 1 and 2. Middleton has been up and down through this entire postseason run, but did show he can explode on any day after he dropped 38 points on 15-of-26 shooting, including 20 points in the fourth quarter, in Milwaukee's huge Game 3 win.
The majority of what the Bucks do revolves around Giannis. They would definitely miss the two-time MVP's presence on defense as well as the attention he gets on the offensive end. Milwaukee will undoubtedly need everybody to chip in to replace Antetokounmpo's production and everything he brings to the table if he's out, but Middleton and Holiday should be the ones leading the way.
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