MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo left the team’s 128-99 win over the Miami Heat with a knee injury in the first quarter. Despite Antetokounmpo playing just six minutes, the Bucks cruised to a 13th consecutive win, which is now the longest winning streak in the league this season.
A team spokesperson said Antetokounmpo “knocked knees” with a Heat player, which Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer confirmed during his postgame press conference.
“We’ll see how he feels tomorrow,” Budenholzer said. “Just evaluate him and take it day-by-day.”
Budenholzer did not offer any information about possible testing.
With just over a minute remaining in the first quarter, Antetokounmpo briefly posted up on the right block, then tossed the ball out to Jevon Carter and immediately signaled to the bench. He started walking off the floor as play was going on and the Bucks called a timeout to get him out of the game. Antetokounmpo limped straight to the locker room and did not return.
Antetokounmpo appeared to already be in discomfort when he re-entered the game with 1:43 remaining, and was grabbing at his knee on the possession prior to him checking out. However, it’s unclear exactly when the injury happened.
“He was basically asking out,” Budenholzer said. “Fortunately we had the ball and I don’t think we know exactly when he knocked knees. He was asking for the timeout, so we had to call the timeout… I’m pretty sure it was either on a drive or on a screen that he knocked knees with somebody and just wasn’t able to return.”
At this point it is still too early to know if and how long Antetokounmpo may be sidelined. The Bucks’ next game comes Sunday afternoon when they’ll host the Phoenix Suns in a nationally-televised rematch of the 2021 NBA Finals.
In the middle of January, Antetokounmpo missed five consecutive games with knee soreness, though that was a left knee issue, whereas this latest incident is with his right knee.
Antetokounmpo initially wasn’t expected to even play against the Heat due to a sprained wrist he suffered during the team’s final game before the All-Star break. As a result of the wrist injury, Antetokounmpo sat out of the Skills Challenge on All-Star Saturday Night and played just 20 seconds in the All-Star Game on Sunday. He also made a trip to New York for additional testing on the wrist, which proved to be positive.
After going through his pre-game warm-up routing on Friday, he was cleared to play. However, Budenholzer acknowledged during his pre-game press conference that Antetokounmpo was “certainly not gonna be 100 percent.” That is now based on two ailments.
