With the NBA Playoffs appearing on the horizon, now is a very bad time for teams contending for a postseason spot to lose a key player, so it’s perfectly understandable why there are plenty of worried faces inside the BMO Harris Bradley Center Wednesday night during a Milwaukee Bucks home game against the L.A. Clippers.
During the game’s second quarter, Bucks star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo appeared to have stepped on Clippers guard Austin Rivers’ foot while boxing out for a possible offensive rebound. Antetokounmpo would then exit the court and head for the locker room for Milwaukee’s medical personnel to check on his injured ankle.
Here’s where it happened. Hopefully they’ll tape it and he’ll be good.
Also, notice that despite being frustrated and in pain, he takes the time to high five all three fans. He’s the best. pic.twitter.com/uxy5ls3czM
— Brew Hoop 🏆🦌 (@brewhoop) March 22, 2018
It would later be reported by Matt Velasquez of the Journal Sentinel that Antetokounmpo will sit out the rest of the game with a sprained right ankle.
Giannis will not return to tonight's game due to a right ankle sprain.
— Matt Velazquez (@Matt_Velazquez) March 22, 2018
Before his premature exit, Antetokounmpo managed to put up 12 points on 5-for-9 shooting from the field to go with two rebounds, two assists, and four blocks in 17 minutes of play.
With 11 games left on their regular season schedule following this meeting with the Clippers, the Bucks are not yet absolutely safe with their 5.5-game advantage over the Detroit Pistons, who are currently occupying the ninth place in the Eastern Conference standings. A loss to the Clippers would narrow that gap.
The Pistons are gaining momentum of late having won their last two outings, and if the Bucks would ultimately miss the services of Giannis Antetokounmpo for any number of games, then Milwaukee will be under more pressure to stave off Detroit for likely the last Eastern Conference postseason ticket.
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