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MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo will miss his fourth recreation in a row on Tuesday night time when the crew hosts the Toronto Raptors. The excellent news for the Bucks is that there is not any concern about this being any type of vital harm, and head coach Mike Budenholzer stated they “count on for him to be able to go quickly,” however will proceed taking issues day-to-day.
There has been no setback all through this course of, and the choice for him to proceed sitting relies on communication between Antetokounmpo and the medical group about how his knee feels.
“We proceed to assume it is the stuff that he and us have handled — for me it is every year that I’ve been right here,” Budenholzer stated on Monday. “We do not assume it is something greater than that. Him being wholesome, taking good care of him is at all times our precedence, we’re in all probability at all times going to err on the aspect of warning as a result of we all know how vital he’s to us.”
This is the fourth consecutive recreation that Antetokounmpo will miss as a result of his lingering knee situation, which isn’t what the Bucks want at this level of the season. They are 8-9 of their final 17 video games to drop to 3rd place within the Eastern Conference. Khris Middleton stays out as a result of his personal knee downside, Jrue Holiday has missed 5 video games throughout this stretch and now Antetokounmpo is on the verge of an prolonged stretch on the sideline.
The Bucks, who’re 5-4 with Antetokounmpo out of the lineup this season, don’t play once more till Saturday towards the Cleveland Cavaliers. No choice has been made about his standing for that recreation, however by then he could have had a full 10 days off to relaxation and rehab his knee.
“He’s doing numerous work within the weight room, he is doing a little work on the court docket, he is doing a few of his warm-ups,” Budenholzer stated on Tuesday. “All of these issues are a part of conserving his knee, conserving all the things to the place he can play at a excessive degree. That’s why — I do know it is the fourth recreation now and that is not what you need — in our eyes we’re very inspired and optimisitc that he is in place. We’re simply working by one other season with him.”
