Giannis out vs. Hawks, giving ankle time to heal
Giannis Antetokounmpo will miss the Milwaukee Bucks‘ game Sunday against the Atlanta Hawks because of a right ankle sprain.
Antetokounmpo aggravated his injured ankle after scoring 34 points in the Bucks’ 128-118 win over the LA Clippers on Thursday night. He left midway through the fourth quarter and did not return.
Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters Sunday that there is a good chance that Antetokounmpo plays on Milwaukee’s three-game road trip. The Bucks play Monday in Brooklyn and Thursday in Philadelphia.
Two young superstars. A World Series hopeful opening its season. An NBA contender gearing up for the playoffs. Yes, times are good in the Cream City — so we tagged along for the ride.
“We’ll evaluate him, give him another 24 hours and see how he feels tomorrow,” Budenholzer said of Antetokounmpo.
The decision to rest Antetokounmpo came with the Bucks close to securing home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. Milwaukee entered Sunday 3½ games ahead of the Toronto Raptors in the race for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.
Antetokounmpo, who is averaging 27.4 points per game, has missed two games since suffering the initial injury March 17 against the 76ers. He said Thursday that he never felt fully recovered from the sprain.
“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.”
Bucks forward Khris Middleton (groin) also is out for Sunday’s game.
ESPN’s Malika Andrews and The Associated Press contributed to this report.