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Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo didn't play in the Bucks' crazy 136-135 Sunday afternoon loss to the Atlanta Hawks due to a right ankle injury, but the hope is the MVP candidate will be back at some point during their three-game road trip.
Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer discussed Antetokounmpo's status before Sunday's game:
“We'll evaluate him, give him another 24 hours and see how he feels tomorrow,” Budenholzer said of Antetokounmpo.
Milwaukee plays the Brooklyn Nets on Monday before facing the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday. It wouldn't be a surprise if The Greek Freak misses the Nets game, but the two off days before facing the Sixers should help his recovery.
Antetokounmpo has been dealing with nagging ankle problems of late, and he aggravated the injury in a win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday. While he insisted he was okay afterward, he was limping a bit. Naturally, he doesn't want to miss many games:
“Usually when you sprain your ankle, you tweak your ankle, you stay out for two, three, four games,” Antetokounmpo said. “But I don't like missing games, so I have to work through it while playing and try to get my strength with our practices.”
The Bucks are still in good shape when it comes to earning home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, so they'll surely be careful with Antetokounmpo. Even with the loss to Atlanta, Milwaukee is three games up on the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference.
The 24-year-old superstar is averaging 27.4 points, 12.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists in 32.9 minutes per game this season.
