Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks pulled off a 124-115 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday night. The two-time MVP led the Bucks with 34 points, 18 rebounds, and four assists. In what was otherwise a stellar performance, Giannis inexplicably made an aggressive play with 23 seconds left in the game. He seemed to hurt his right knee, which has landed him on the Bucks injury report on numerous occasions.
The Play on Which Giannis Appeared to Hurt His Knee
With 23 seconds left in the game, Giannis attempted to block a shot. He was called for a goaltend and seemed to land awkwardly. He spent the remaining seconds of the game with a limp.
Giannis looked to be favoring his right knee after going up for the block in the final seconds of the game. Here's the play: #Bucks pic.twitter.com/R6cqAQGZnK
— Karley Marotta (@Karley_Marotta) February 1, 2023
Good News After the Game
According to Eric Nehm of The Athletic, head coach Mike Budenholzer stated that “in a perfect world,” the seven-time All-Star would not have gone up for a block with an 11 point lead and 23 seconds left in the game. He did say, however, that “it’s part of what makes him great.”
The two-time MVP himself also addressed the play to the media.
“I was just trying to make a play. But sometimes you’re going to fall. Just get up and keep on moving forward and go the other way. Now, maybe you can be smarter and try not to jump in the final seconds of the game because it really doesn’t make a difference. But I felt like there were a couple moments that I didn’t contest a couple shots, so may main focus was trying to contest everything that was coming to our basket. So, time and score didn’t really matter to me, I was just trying to contest a shot and make a play.”
He did add that he “feels great.”
The Bucks will host the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday night. It will be interesting to see if Giannis ends up on the Bucks injury report in the next day or so.
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