Milwaukee All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo to Miss Rest of NBA Regular Season

All-NBA Milwaukee Bucks power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo is down for the count with a major injury. Per the Bucks’ official X account, the 6-foot-11 superstar departed the third quarter of an eventual 104-91 Bucks win Tuesday night over the Eastern Conference’s top-seeded Boston Celtics with a left soleus strain that he suffered without contact. Imaging indicated confirmed the injury.

He will sit out the three final games of the 2023-24 regular season and will undergo daily treatment for the ailment. Missing the last three games of the regular season, with likely a top-four seed sewn up, is a fairly benign outcome for what looked like a potentially scary ailment for “The Greek Freak.”

It is of course a blow for the Bucks, currently the No. 2 seed in the East at 48-31, to lose out on their best player during this home stretch, but it certainly seems like he will at least be able to return at some point early in the playoffs.

Antetokounmpo finished the game last night with a team-best +17 plus-minus. In 28:36, he scored 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field and 1-of-2 shooting from the charity stripe, pulled down eight rebounds, dished out seven assists, blocked two shots, and swiped one steal.

Surprisingly, newly-promoted starting shooting guard Patrick Beverley was the Bucks’ leading scorer on the night, notching 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field (4-of-8 from deep), 10 rebounds (tied for the most on the team, alongside reserve big Bobby Portis), and three assists in just 26:08. He replaced Malik Beasley, as head coach Doc Rivers clearly wanted to prioritize his defense over Beasley’s three-point shooting marksmanship.

Antetokounmpo, a two-time MVP and still easily one of the best three or so players in the NBA, will finish his regular season having played 73 games. The eight-time All-Star and seven-time All-NBA honoree posted averages of 30.4 points on 61.1% shooting from the field, 11.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.1 blocks per game.

So how will Doc Rivers opt to make up for the absence of his best player ahead of the posteason? Veteran 3-and-D forward Jae Crowder would appear to be the likeliest candidate to supplant Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee’s starting lineup to end the year, but a case could also be made for Portis, a leading contender for Sixth Man of the Year honors but a slightly more awkward defensive fit alongside Brook Lopez. Portis may be a better overall player than Crowder, but he can be hidden much better at center on defense than he can be while chasing around smaller, more agile forwards at the four.