Bucks coach Doc Rivers says he anticipates Giannis Antetokounmpo missing about 4 weeks

Rivers emphasized the importance of caution with calf issues to avoid the risk of a player getting hurt more severely.

“And so that may take longer than we want,” Rivers said. “That even may make Giannis frustrated over it. But we’ve just got to try to get that right.”

Rivers said Antetokounmpo won’t travel with the Bucks for their Saturday night game at Detroit but will accompany the team for most of its away contests while he’s out.

“Our thing is, especially because this just happened, with the blood flow, the flights and all that stuff, keep him home,” Rivers said.

The Bucks had another setback Friday when guard AJ Green, who is shooting nearly 50% from 3-point range, bruised his left shoulder in the second quarter. Rivers said Green would be undergoing an MRI on Saturday in Detroit.

Antetokounmpo injured his calf in the opening minutes of a 113-109 home victory over Detroit on Wednesday.

He had just assisted on AJ Green’s layup less than three minutes into the game when he headed back up the court and slipped in the painted area. Antetokounmpo went down, clutched his right leg and eventually was helped up before walking to the locker room.

Rivers said after that game that he believed Antetokounmpo’s injury may have stemmed from contact he made with a Detroit player while driving along the baseline just before passing to Green.

Antetokounmpo entered Friday ranked seventh in the NBA in scoring (28.9), ninth in rebounding (10.1) and 19th in assists (6.1).

The Bucks are 1-6 in games Antetokounmpo has missed this season. They did rally from an 18-point deficit Wednesday against the Eastern Conference-leading Pistons with Antetokounmpo only playing the first three minutes.

Friday's game exemplified the Bucks' issues in trying to win without Antetokounmpo. Milwaukee committed 10 first-half turnovers that led to 17 Philadelphia points as the Bucks fell behind by as many as 26 points in the second quarter.

“You can see early on our guards were trying to force the action, and that’s easy to guard," Rivers said after the game. "It really is. That’s a lesson.”

Bucks guard Kevin Porter Jr. said he didn’t feel as though he was pressing too much early – he attempted only four shots in the first half – but he acknowledged the responsibility everyone has to help pick up the slack while Antetokounmpo is out.

“Me and Ryan (Rollins), we have some shoes to fill while he’s gone,” Porter said. “We all have some shoes to fill.”

Antetokounmpo's injury looked similar to a calf strain that ended Antetokounmpo’s 2023-24 season prematurely. Antetokounmpo was heading up the court during an April 9 victory over the Boston Celtics that season when he grabbed his left calf and took a seat on the floor before being helped off the court.

He went on to miss the Bucks’ final three regular-season games as well as their entire six-game loss to the Indiana Pacers in the opening round of the playoffs that season.

This latest calf injury comes after Antetokounmpo missed four games last month with a left adductor strain. The Bucks lost all four of those games.

Rivers noted that Porter also didn’t play in any of those games while recovering from a knee injury. Porter returned Nov. 29 and is averaging 19.8 points and 5.8 assists this season.

“Now we have ‘Scoot’ (Porter) and Ryan together,” Rivers said. “It’s a different team than it was even three weeks ago or four weeks ago.”

This calf injury occurred the same day ESPN reported that Antetokounmpo and his agent, Alex Saratsis, had started speaking with the Bucks about the nine-time all-NBA forward’s future and whether he’s best suited to stay in Milwaukee or play elsewhere. Rivers disputed the report and said that “Giannis has never asked to be traded – ever. I can’t make that more clear."

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA