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The Bucks have no timetable for how long it might take Giannis Antetokounmpo to return from a strained right calf.<\/p>\n
MILWAUKEE (AP) \u2014 Giannis Antetokounmpo\u2019s potential return date remains uncertain as the Milwaukee Bucks forward recovers from\u00a0a calf strain<\/a>\u00a0that he had predicted might keep him out for 4-to-6 weeks.<\/p>\n The two-time MVP also said after\u00a0the Bucks\u2019 102-100 loss<\/a> to Denver\u00a0on Friday that an MRI would determine he had a calf or soleus strain in his right leg.<\/p>\n Bucks coach Doc Rivers confirmed the calf strain diagnosis Monday but didn\u2019t speculate on when Antetokounmpo might return.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s really no timetable,\u201d Rivers said.<\/p>\n The 31-year-old Antetokounmpo had his right calf wrapped in the first half of the game against Denver. He didn\u2019t appear comfortable the rest of the night and left for good with 34 seconds remaining.<\/p>\n \u201cI felt like I couldn\u2019t explode,\u201d Antetokounmpo said after the game. \u201cI could jog. I couldn\u2019t get on my toes, so I was kind of jogging on my heel the majority of the game. I didn\u2019t have the same explosiveness, but I still felt like I could help. At the end, when it popped, I had to get out. I couldn\u2019t walk.\u201d<\/p>\n Antetokounmpo previously\u00a0missed eight games\u00a0from Dec. 5-26 with a right calf strain<\/a>.\u00a0Strains to his left calf caused him to miss the\u00a02024 playoffs<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a02025 All-Star Game.<\/a><\/p>\n Rivers said the Bucks haven\u2019t considered resting Antetokounmpo for the remainder of the season despite his history of calf issues.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no thought to that,\u201d Rivers said. \u201cBut listen, there\u2019s no timetable either.\u201d<\/p>\n The Bucks had monitored Antetokounmpo\u2019s workload since his return. He played fewer than 30 minutes in each of his first three games back and hadn\u2019t topped 33 minutes in any of his January games.<\/p>\n That didn\u2019t stop him from getting hurt again.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was frustrated with that because he\u2019s used to playing 35,\u201d Rivers said. \u201cWe thought we handled that well. Maybe we\u2019ll go back down. Obviously, it hurts our team the minutes he\u2019s not on the floor, but we just need him to play, and we\u2019ve got to figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n Antetokounmpo\u2019s injury means he won\u2019t be playing when the NBA trade deadline arrives Feb. 5, which is noteworthy considering how much attention his future in Milwaukee has received over the last several months. Antetokounmpo repeatedly has said he\u2019s\u00a0\u201clocked in\u201d\u00a0with the Bucks but has left open the possibility he could change his mind at some point.<\/p>\n The Bucks (18-26) have lost five of their last six games and are 11th in the Eastern Conference standings, putting their streak of nine consecutive playoff berths in serious jeopardy. They have gone 15-15 with Antetokounmpo and 3-11 without him this season.<\/p>\n Antetokounmpo acknowledged Friday he would have removed himself from that game much earlier if the Bucks owned a significantly better record. He instead played 32 minutes and had 22 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists.<\/p>\n \u201cI just think it speaks volume to his character and who he is as a person and player,\u201d Bucks forward Bobby Portis said.<\/p>\n Rivers said he noticed the calf issue seemed to bother Antetokounmpo during Friday\u2019s game. Rivers said Antetokounmpo generally has been good about notifying the team when the calf is hurting him too much.<\/p>\n \u201cI asked our guys afterwards,\u201d Rivers said. \u201cAs I said, I was concerned at halftime. He\u2019s been very honest. Most of the time, he\u2019s like, \u2018Hey, it\u2019s hurting, but it\u2019s not bad.\u2019 That\u2019s what he\u2019s relaying to medical, and they have to believe him. I think he\u2019s been pretty good overall. He takes himself out. That\u2019s why they left him in, because he kept saying, \u2018I\u2019m fine. I\u2019m fine.\u2019 Visually, I kept asking. I\u2019m not involved in that decision-making part, but I know what I see. I kept asking. That\u2019s a tough one.\u201d<\/p>\n Antetokounmpo has averaged 28 points, 10 rebounds and 5.6 assists over 30 games this season.<\/p>\n The Bucks also have played their last two games without second-leading scorer Kevin Porter Jr. because of an oblique strain. Rivers said there\u2019s no indication yet when Porter might be available again.<\/p>\n Milwaukee will try to break out of its slump without its two leading scorers by correcting the mistakes that were made the last time Antetokounmpo missed an extended period of time.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the first year this group has been together,\u201d Bucks forward Kyle Kuzma said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got 38 games to continue to get better as a unit and a group to where, if he comes back, we have a chance, or we do some things that are positive, a net positive for future endeavors.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Bucks have no timetable for how long it might take Giannis Antetokounmpo to return from a strained…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":563558,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3775],"tags":[7,103,58481,102,121,3871,6],"class_list":["post-563557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-milwaukee-bucks","tag-basketball","tag-bucks","tag-giannis-antetokounmpo-injury","tag-milwaukee","tag-milwaukee-bucks","tag-milwaukeebucks","tag-nba"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=563557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563557\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/563558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=563557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=563557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=563557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}