Giannis exits Bucks’ loss with hyperextended knee
The Bucks said Giannis Antetokounmpo hyperextended his left knee when he landed awkwardly during the third quarter of Tuesday night’s Game…
ATLANTA — After exiting Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals with a left knee injury, Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo is scheduled to have imaging done on Wednesday, sources told ESPN.
Without their star player, the Bucks were routed 110-88 as the Atlanta Hawks tied up the series at 2-2.
Antetokounmpo suffered what the Bucks are calling a hyperextended left knee on Tuesday. With just over seven minutes remaining in the third quarter, Antetokounmpo jumped up to contest an alley-oop from John Collins to Clint Capela. The two-time MVP landed awkwardly on his left leg, his knee buckling.
“It just looked like their legs got tangled up,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said after the game. “They both landed awkwardly. That’s what I saw live. I haven’t seen anything else.”
Antetokounmpo immediately fell to the floor and stayed down on the ground for several minutes — with Bucks and Hawks players and coaches surrounding him — before sitting up. He was helped to his feet by his brother and teammate, Thanasis, and walked gingerly off the court with his help. Television monitors showed Antetokounmpo walking back to the locker room without assistance, but he had a significant limp.
“I just hope it’s not serious,” Khris Middleton said after the game.
When Antetokounmpo was injured, the Hawks had a 10-point lead. Immediately after he left the court, Bucks guard Jrue Holiday hit a floater — but those were the last points Milwaukee scored for three and a half minutes. The Hawks answered with a 15-0 run to push their lead once again.
The Hawks, who were without star guard Trae Young, never trailed in the game. They outscored the Bucks in points in the paint, 46-44, after the Bucks had outscored them by an average of more than 20 in each of the first three games.
Milwaukee also struggled to take care of the ball, committing 15 turnovers that led to 16 points for the Hawks. Atlanta, on the other hand, turned the ball over 11 times — and the Bucks had only four points off of those.
“We just thought we were going to walk in and win the game,” P.J. Tucker said. “We didn’t do anything to show that we wanted to win this game tonight. We were flat, and our guy’s injury was just another piece of the puzzle to us losing.”
With the series shifting back to Milwaukee, the Bucks await the results of Antetokounmpo’s imaging to determine his status for Game 5 and beyond.
“We’ll see what happens with Giannis,” Middleton said. “It would be great if he plays, but if not, we still have a capable team of going out there and winning.”
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