Milwaukee Bucks Giannis Antetokounmpo missed the entire first-round series against the Indiana Pacers with a left calf strain. Milwaukee lost the first-round series against Indiana 4-2. This was the second consecutive year that the Bucks were bounced in the first of the NBA Playoffs.
They were the three seed this season and last season, they were bounced in five games as the number one seed against the Miami Heat. Antetokounmpo also missed the last few games of the regular season with his injury. Had they come back from 3-1 down, they would have faced the second-seeded New York Knicks.
For those hoping that Antetokounmpo would come back for the series against New York, think again. He probably would have been sidelined to start the series and then have a chance to miss another series in the NBA playoffs. The last time he played in an NBA game was on April 9 against the Boston Celtics.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Of the Milwaukee Bucks Was Only 30-40% Healthy
Antetokounmpo when meeting with the media on Friday, mentioned that he was only 30-40% healthy and acknowledged that he was not close to returning to game action despite trying to come back for the NBA Playoffs. His injury would have been a major storyline had the Bucks won the series against Indiana and faced the Knicks, but it appears to be an afterthought now.
Giannis Antetokounmpo told Jamal Collier of ESPN by saying:
“I tried my best to come back to help my teammates. It’s kind of hard to see them being out there and not being able to help them, but I just couldn’t. I did all the tests I had to do, these like protocols you have to follow and have to check the boxes. I wasn’t even close at checking the boxes.”
Antetokounmpo was not the only player facing injury issues during the first-round series against the Indiana Pacers. Damian Lillard also missed Game 4 and 5 against the Indiana Pacers before returning to the lineup for Game 6. The Milwaukee Bucks banked on Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard being healthy this season and it did not go as planned for them and hopefully things could be different for them during the 2024-2025 season.
Injuries are a part of basketball, but it seemed to be bad luck more than anything else. They will need to get younger for next season and beyond because they are not getting younger by any means.
