All of Milwaukee held their breath Tuesday night when Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo went down in the second half of the game against the Boston Celtics at home with a non-contact injury. Many feared that the two-time league Most Valuable Player tore his Achilles, but it was later reported that what he suffered was a left calf strain.
Hours later, an MRI result showed that Achilles tendon did not suffer any serious damage, which should be enough good news for Milwaukee.
Milwaukee Bucks Star Giannis Antetokounmpo’s MRI Result Reveals No Damage on Achilles
Early Wednesday morning, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN provided the following update on Antetokounmpo:
After an MRI, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s left Achilles tendon is fully intact and his return to play will come with how quickly his left calf strain heals, sources tell ESPN.
Antetokounmpo left the Boston game with 15 points, seven assists, and eight rebounds to go with a steal and two blocks in 29 minutes. Despite losing the 29-year-old forward, the Bucks still managed to beat the East-leading Celtics, 104-91 behind a balanced attack from the other starters. Pat Beverley also stepped up two lead the team with 20 points, while Bobby Portis came off the bench to provide 15 points and 10 rebounds in just 22 minutes of action.
“Any time you see one of your teammates go down, it’s I think a real level of concern,” Milwaukee star point guard Damian Lillard said after the game (h/t ESPN). “We spend a lot of time around each other, more than we would our families. I think that was the No. 1 thing. And then for it to be your best player, the most important part of our team, at this point in the season, it was like an, ‘Oh, (damn)’ moment, especially because there was nobody else around.”
While that’s good news for the Bucks, it is still uncertain when exactly Antetokounmpo can return to action. He’s likely to miss at least a game, which is not ideal for Milwaukee, especially since it is still looking to secure the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. At the moment, the Bucks are second in the East with a 48-31 record — just a game in front of the No. 3 New York Knicks and two games ahead of the No. 4 Orlando Magic and No. 5 Cleveland Cavaliers.
If Antetokounmpo had played his last game in the regular season, he would be finishing the campaign with 30.4 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 6.6 assists while shooting 61.1 percent from the field.
The Bucks are slated to face the Magic in Milwaukee’s home finale in the regular season this Wednesday before back-to-back road contests to round out their schedule before the playoffs against the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Magic.
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