Positive, negative injury updates for Bucks as regular season nears end

The Milwaukee Bucks have given some updates on the injury to Giannis Antetokounmpo's calf strain that has been labeled as a soleus strain. The most encouraging update came with the news that there was no damage to Giannis' Achilles tendon. However, his availability for the playoffs remained uncertain.

With this injury news, the Bucks did announce Wednesday afternoon that Giannis will officially miss the rest of the regular season, which included Wednesday night's win over the Orlando Magic in the home finale.

Where do the Milwaukee Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo stand going into the playoffs?

There were some more updates given from Milwaukee Bucks sources to NBA insider Chris Haynes which he shared on the latest episode of 'This League Uncut.'

Haynes revealed that the Milwaukee Bucks are not "overly concerned" with Antetokounmpo's long term prognosis and are "confident" that they'll have him for the playoffs.

This encouraging report is aided by the fact that while the Milwaukee Bucks currently occupy the Eastern Conference's second seed, they wouldn't have to start their opening round playoff series right away as they would be awaiting the results of the play-in tournament.

On the podcast, Haynes and Stein remarked that a soleus injury usually carries a one-and-a-half to two week recovery time. Giannis' injury occurred on April 9; the NBA play-in tournament is scheduled for April 16-19. Follwing that, the first round for the Bucks would begin on April 20th, meeting up with that week-and-a-half estimated recovery period.

It is also worth acknowledging (and they did on the podcast) that Giannis Antetokounmpo has shown his freakish ability to overcome injuries faster than estimated. Think back to the Milwaukee Bucks championship season when Giannis returned just a couple weeks after a pretty gnarly looking hyperextended knee to have one of the greatest NBA Finals series ever.

Haynes and Stein did also bring up that Damian Lillard had this same injury last season as was shut down for longer than the two week recovery period but quickly remarked that it was likely due to the Portland Trail Blazers being more interested in a higher draft pick than getting Lillard back on the floor for a few end of the year regular season games.

Injury updates on Damian Lillard and other Milwaukee Bucks

The Milwaukee Bucks have been pretty banged up at various points throughout the season, and the end of the regular season has been no different. The Bucks were without Khris Middleton on Wednesday against the Magic, and he is listed on the injury report against the OKC Thunder as questionable due to left ankle injury management.

The big one is Damian Lillard, who is listed as doubtful with a left adductor strain, quite possibly just a designation being used to give Lillard a game off before the playoffs start. That is the hope at least, as the Bucks would certainly like for him to be healthy before the postseason. This will be something to keep an eye on.

Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis are new additions to the injury report, as both are listed as questionable due to rest.

Alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo, AJ Green is listed as out with an ankle sprain, as is two-way wing Jaylin Galloway. On a more positive note concerning ankle sprains, MarJon Beauchamp is listed as questionable. He hasn't played in a game since March 24 and has been listed as inactive for the Bucks' last four games.

Last season, MarJon Beauchamp was in the starting lineup for a game against the Thunder when the Milwaukee Bucks were without Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton and Giannis Antetokounmpo. He played one of his best games as a pro, scoring 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting, including 5-of-8 behind the 3-point line and grabbed eight rebounds and two steals.

Lastly, the Bucks' bench mob leader Thanasis Antetokounmpo is listed as probable with left hamstring soreness.

Thankfully, Bobby Portis was not listed after he took a hit to the head during his 30 point outburst in a win against the Magic, so the Bucks should have several key players ready to go in Oklahoma City on Friday night.