The absence of Giannis Antetoounmpo was what ultimately led to the Milwaukee Bucks’ downfall at the hands of the Indiana Pacers in the opening round. Damian Lillard, Khris Middleton, and the rest of the crew put up a formidable effort but in the end, the Bucks just lacked the firepower to compete with the Pacers without the former back-to-back MVP in the mix.
Giannis did all he could to return from a nagging calf injury. According to head coach Doc Rivers, the Bucks talisman came extremely close to coming back. In fact, the NBA champion shot-caller hinted that Antetokounmpo may have found a way to suit up if only Milwaukee was able to extend the series to a Game 7.
Milwaukee Bucks News: Doc Rivers Speaks Out on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Injury Recovery
Throughout the series, Rivers was consistent about Giannis getting closer and closer to making his much-anticipated return to the court. Ultimately, though, he just wasn’t close enough.
“Yeah, he was close. He was really close,” Rivers said, via Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I don’t know if he would have made Game 7, honestly. I think it would have been to the deadline. In retrospect, I don’t know if Dame should have played (May 2). He was fine. And I just love that he had the clearance to play, for sure. He couldn’t have hurt himself (worse). But you can see, it took late into the game for him to get any rhythm. I just love the mentality of both of them. I mean, Giannis was doing everything. You have no idea the work he was trying to do to get back on the floor. His teammates, they all saw it.”
I’m not sure if the fact that Antetoounmpo may have been available for Game 7 is supposed to make Bucks fans feel better or worse. To be honest, it’s probably the latter.
The silver lining here is that Antetokounmpo should be back to full strength by the time training camp begins. This should give him a full offseason of preparation alongside Lillard and Rivers. You can be sure that the Bucks will be back with a vengeance in 2024-25.
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