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MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo will miss his fourth game in a row on Tuesday night when the team hosts the Toronto Raptors. The good news for the Bucks is that there’s no concern about this being any sort of significant injury, and head coach Mike Budenholzer said they “expect for him to be ready to go soon,” but will continue taking things day by day.
There has been no setback throughout this process, and the decision for him to continue sitting is based on communication between Antetokounmpo and the medical group about how his knee feels.
“We continue to think it’s the stuff that he and us have dealt with — for me it’s each year that I’ve been here,” Budenholzer said on Monday. “We don’t think it’s anything more than that. Him being healthy, taking care of him is always our priority, we’re probably always going to err on the side of caution because we know how important he is to us.”
This is the fourth consecutive game that Antetokounmpo will miss due to his lingering knee issue, which is not what the Bucks need at this point of the season. They are 8-9 in their last 17 games to drop to third place in the Eastern Conference. Khris Middleton remains out due to his own knee problem, Jrue Holiday has missed five games during this stretch and now Antetokounmpo is on the verge of an extended stretch on the sideline.
The Bucks, who are 5-4 with Antetokounmpo out of the lineup this season, do not play again until Saturday against the Cleveland Cavaliers. No decision has been made about his status for that game, but by then he will have had a full 10 days off to rest and rehab his knee.
“He’s doing a lot of work in the weight room, he’s doing some work on the court, he’s doing some of his warm-ups,” Budenholzer said on Tuesday. “All of those things are part of keeping his knee, keeping everything to where he can play at a high level. That’s why — I know it’s the fourth game now and that’s not what you want — in our eyes we’re very encouraged and optimisitc that he’s in a good place. We’re just working through another season with him.”
