Antetekounmpo’s injury looms large
C’s score season-low in points, Bucks big man hurt
MILWAUKEE >> Even Doc Rivers couldn’t help but cast some doubt. He knows his Bucks have struggled to stay healthy this season. And before a rare game Tuesday in which his top three of Giannis Antetekounmpo, Damian Lillard and Khris Middleton were available, Rivers was optimistic about what his squad can look like at full strength but treaded carefully.
“Let’s see if we can get through the game,” Rivers said sheepishly.
Then, they didn’t. Late in the third quarter on Tuesday, Antetekounmpo crumbled to the ground while jogging up the court. The Bucks superstar left the game with a left calf strain and didn’t return. The Bucks handled the Celtics anyway, 104-91, at Fiserv Forum but the game marked something of a representation of how this season has unfolded atop the Eastern Conference.
As the Celtics — who have long clinched the top seed in the East — coast through the end of the regular season this week, it’s fair to ponder if they will receive a real threat in their path to the NBA Finals. The Bucks, though they now sit 14 games back of the Celtics, should be that team. Health, poor defense and a midseason coaching change have stood in their way. But Tuesday offered a reminder of how formidable the Bucks can be, that they can still be a challenger to the Celtics.
But they have to be healthy, and they certainly need Antetekounmpo, who left the arena after suffering his non-contact injury to get an MRI. Rivers described the concern level as “high” as the Bucks wait for the results that could change the course of their season.
“But he’s Giannis,” Rivers said. “I think everyone probably feels the same way as I do right now. We’re just hoping for the best.”
With Antetekounmpo, the Bucks looked engaged. They looked motivated as they ended a four-game losing streak. Perhaps they were sparked by a lineup change, as Patrick Beverley started over Malik Beasley. They built a 24-point lead behind hot 3-point shooting
— they went 8-for-10 from distance in the opening quarter and got five firsthalf triples from big man Brook Lopez — and never looked back on the Celtics, who couldn’t catch up after a sluggish start.
The shorthanded Celtics — without Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford — looked disconnected and disengaged at times. Shots that typically go down didn’t. Jaylen Brown had a bad night, with just 14 points and five turnovers. Jayson Tatum led the way with 22 points, but the Celtics struggled mightily offensively as they scored a season-low 91 points. They shot 32 percent from 3-point range and didn’t attempt a single free throw, marking the first team to do so in NBA history. The Bucks only shot two from the stripe.
“Another day in the NBA,” Tatum said.
Tatum and Jrue Holiday chalked up the poor offensive night to simply missing wide-open shots. But Joe Mazzulla thought the issue ran a little bit deeper. It was about their pace
“Waiting too long to get into our spacing, too many shots at the end of the shot clock,” Mazzulla said. “Just got to get into it quicker.”
Mazzulla, who rested his regulars in the fourth quarter in each of the previous two games, opted to keep them in despite trailing by 20 in a game that didn’t hold meaningful stakes for them. Their defense got it together to hold the Bucks to 15 points in third as they trimmed their deficit to 11 late in the period after Antektounmpo’s injury.
Antetekoumpo went down with 3:37 left in the third quarter, when he was casually jogging up the court and suddenly stumbled to the ground while holding his calf. He stood up and took a step before going down again. He had to be helped by Bucks staff members before walking back to the locker room under his own power, but with a noticeable limp. There were anxious moments inside Fiserv Forum.
Holiday, Antetekounmpo’s former teammate, didn’t see it happen.
“It’s always scary when you’re by yourself and you go down,” Holiday said. “There was no contact or anything, so I’m gonna check on him and see if he’s all right.”
Despite Antetekounmpo’s absence, the Celtics didn’t have enough to complete a comeback. Mazzulla ultimately took his regulars out midway through the fourth, but the coach thought it was a good opportunity for his team to play through some adversity that they’ll inevitably run into during the playoffs.
“I think it’s good for us to be in a bunch of different situations,” Mazzulla said. “That was the first time where the game wasn’t going our way since I don’t remember when. So to me that’s a good opportunity to play through that, find different ways to create runs, find different ways to build stuff on either end of the floor. So I thought it was a good situation for us to be in because we haven’t seen it in a while. So it’s good for us to be in that.”