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Most pundits believed the Milwaukee Bucks were done against the Miami Heat on Tuesday after reigning NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo was ruled out of Game 5 due to a right ankle injury. True enough, the Heat capitalized on the Greek Freak's absence and took care of business, officially eliminating the number-one team in the league with an emphatic 103-94 victory to complete the 4-1 East semis series win.
Speaking to reporters post-game, Antetokounmpo revealed that he was willing to play hurt on Tuesday, just to be able to help his team in their do-or-die match.
“If it’s up to me, I’d play with one leg, I really don’t care… I love my organization for that, I appreciate that they protected me. I wanted to play… My organization put my health over Game 5. That’s big for me,” the newly-minted Defensive Player of The Year winner said, via Ben Golliver of the Washington Post.
Although the Bucks managed to narrowly avoid getting the broom in Game 4, they likely accepted that a 3-1 deficit is indeed a tough hill to climb. Milwaukee made the right call in sitting out their franchise star to avoid any risk of him potentially aggravating that injury. Had Giannis Antetokounmpo played and suffered another setback, the Bucks would have been in the same predicament as the Golden State Warriors in last year's Finals. Dubs' former superstar Kevin Durant suffered an Achilles injury after rushing back from his injury.
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This, of course, played a big factor in Durant's decision to leave Golden State for the Brooklyn Nets in free agency last summer. Milwaukee was likely trying to avoid a similar scenario since Giannis will be in the final year of his $100 million contract in the 2020-21 season. Judging by Giannis' remarks, it seems the Bucks landed in their best player's good graces after not forcing him to play while he was hurt.
