The Milwaukee Bucks are the biggest threat to Boston in the East — but they have to be completely healthy to do it.
That is not happening Wednesday night in a nationally televised showdown against Boston, Giannis Antetokounmpo is out with a hamstring strain, a story Shams Charania of The Athletic broke. Antetokounmpo missed Sunday’s game, a Bucks win against the Suns, for the same reason and before the game Doc Rivers talked about it. Here’s the quote via Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
“Well, it’s not an injury, we’re just concerned a little bit,” Rivers said... “Plus, you look at the schedule you have one, two, three, four, five days off, so we planted it in him and he had to do it. Which we were happy that he decided to do it.”
Antetokounmpo has not played for almost a week (since last Thursday) and is still out, which raises a few eyebrows.
The Bucks need to be healthy to have a chance in the postseason. Khris Middleton returned on Sunday and looked good in his return, scoring 22. That’s a big step.
Khris cooked in his first game back.
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) March 17, 2024
22 PTS | 7 AST | 3 REB | 53% FG pic.twitter.com/t0zx9lEugT
With Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, Middleton, and Brook Lopez — plus solid role players and Doc Rivers as coach — Milwaukee is the biggest threat to Boston on paper. The Bucks would have a puncher’s chance in a series, but they would have no margin for error.
Which starts with getting Antetokounmpo healthy.