Night off for Giannis?
Dealing with well-documented back pain in recent weeks, and having looked completely off his game on Friday night, it would definitely seem possible that Giannis Antetokounmpo could be given a night off on Saturday night as the Bucks close out this Western Conference trip.
Antetokounmpo declined to speak with the media following the Bucks’ win in Sacramento, while coach Mike Budenholzer largely seemed to play down concerns about Giannis’ back, as detailed by Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Still, it doesn’t go unnoticed that Giannis’ two least effective games of the season in terms of paint scoring have come over the course of Milwaukee’s last three outings.
With two days off after this one, it wouldn’t be impossible for Giannis to play in this one, but the benefits of a three day break may be even better in terms of helping him to nurse any back pain.
Given how well Eric Bledsoe and Khris Middleton played on Friday, the Bucks have reason to be confident about their ability to get the job done if their superstar does need to miss this one too.