All Milwaukee Bucks fans held their breath late in their highly entertaining showdown with the Phoenix Suns Monday night at Fiserv Forum.
The meeting between the two sides didn’t disappoint and it took overtime to get things settled, though that didn’t come without plenty of controversy. Still, the Bucks were dealt with quite a scare upon seeing Giannis Antetokounmpo deal with an injury early on in the extra period.
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Upon flying in to block a shot on Devin Booker and corralling the subsequent miss, Antetokounmpo grimaced as he went down the court with the ball before crumbling in front of the Bucks’ bench, which prompted the Bucks to call a timeout with 4:02 remaining.
Bucks head trainer Scott Faust looked over Antetokounmpo’s foot while surrounded by a crew of Bucks players who were hoping for nothing serious for the 26-year-old superstar.
Left without Antetokounmpo for the rest of the way, though he was active on the sideline and tried to stretch out his foot and legs, the Bucks fought until the bitter end before taking on a controversial 128-127 loss to the Suns. Devin Booker’s made free throw after the questionable foul call on P.J. Tucker proved to be the difference in the end.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was confirmed to have suffered a cramp late in the Bucks’ loss
While the result left plenty of Bucks fans frustrated and fuming in the face of the loss, the thread of losing Antetokounmpo for the final four minutes and change was the second biggest question Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer had to face with the media. And Budenholzer confirmed Antetokounmpo suffered a cramp and proceeded with caution with the superstar’s health the rest of the way.
Per Mike Budenholzer, it was a cramp for Giannis Antetokounmpo late in tonight's game (just as many of you watching the broadcast believed).
— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) April 20, 2021
As far as bringing him back in late, Budenholzer said they just didn't think it made sense with his recent left knee issues.
After all, Budenholzer citing the concerns over Antetokounmpo’s recent absence loomed large as the reigning MVP was on the sidelines for the most of overtime. Monday night was Antetokounmpo’s third game since missing six games with left knee soreness.
Upon making his return in the Bucks’ most recent win last week, with that coming over the Atlanta Hawks, Antetokounmpo discussed his mindset and the challenges of been sidelined for the longest stretch of his career to date:
"“You get mentally frustrated, but at the end of the day, you don’t lose your positivity. Everything happens for a reason and I know that I’m coming back healthy, stronger and sometimes it’s good to take a break…Obviously, (this season) is challenging. You see a lot of players getting injured, a lot of players missing games. We play every other day, but we gotta do what we got to do. Everybody does it and we can’t be the ones whining about it, but it’s just a challenging season. You play back-to-backs and you have one day to rest and go out and play again. You have one day to rest and you go out and play again. It’s a lot of games. So you got to be able to take care of your body and hopefully, when this year is done, we can get back to normal.”"
For this to occur on a night where Antetokounmpo just played over 35 minutes shows he’s still getting legs back after undergoing such a long layoff.
While Bucks fans grapple with the controversial ending from the team’s loss to the Suns, they will breathe a little easier knowing Antetokounmpo avoided great harm after what looked to be a worrisome injury upon first glance.