Milwaukee Bucks are in the major game of the NBA where every win matters.
For the win, every player needs to be in great health however injuries tend to happen in the game and are unavoidable.
The Bucks star Giannis met with such an unfortunate incident in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Giannis hyperextended his left knee in the third quarter of Game 4 against the Hawks.
The Bucks announced on Wednesday that Giannis’s MRI confirmed the diagnosis and listed him as doubtful for Thursday’s Game 5.
The Hawks won Game 4 110-88 against the Bucks and tied the series at 2-2 in Atlanta.
With the series all tied up between the Hawks and the Bucks.
Now the result of the competition between the two teams becomes very difficult to predict.
Giannis’s injury.
With the Hawks star Trae Young out, the Bucks had a full chance to extend their lead in Game 4.
But before the Bucks could even the lead of Game 4, the Bucks star Giannis suffered an injury, causing the Hawks to dominate the game and take the lead.
Giannis suffered the injury while attempting to block the Hawks center Clint Capela at the rim with 7:14 left in the third quarter.
Antetokounmpo tangled with Capela and landed awkwardly. He quickly fell to the ground and stayed on the ground holding his knee for several minutes.
“I heard him yell,” Khris Middleton said.
In addition, Jrue Holiday said, “I think just based on how he was grabbing his leg, it seemed like it was pretty bad.”
Subsequently, his older brother and teammate Thanasis Antetokounmpo helped him out of the court.
He took some steps without help as he headed to the locker room.
Bucks general manager Jon Horst followed Antetokounmpo into the locker room.
He returned to the bench briefly before again heading to the locker room.
The Bucks then ruled him out of the rest of the game at the end of the third quarter, announcing he had a left knee hyperextension.
Giannis’s injury update
According to the report, Giannis had an MRI on Wednesday morning and came up with that diagnosis.
The report also added he did not suffer any structural damage. The Bucks officially listed him as doubtful for Game 5 of the Eastern Conference final on Thursday.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is doubtful for Game 5 vs. Hawks on Thursday with his left knee hyperextension.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2021
“We’ll just take it day by day and see how he’s doing,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said.
“I think that’s why when you talk about the range of possibilities, you know, I think where this has landed has to be looked at as a positive. It’s still a really difficult fall,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said Wednesday.”
The Bucks are without Giannis for the remaining game.
The Hawks versus the Bucks series of the Eastern Conference is tied up at 2-2.
Giannis’s injury devastating for the Bucks who are favorites to win the NBA finals and this is likely to change the course of the Bucks’ aim for the Finals.
Despite that, the Bucks are still more than capable of winning the game as they did before.
When they came up with a back-to-back win after losing Game 1 of this same series.
It’s possible only with other players stepping up their game and filling the void created by Giannis’s absence.
Hence, the pressure now is on Middleton and Holiday and requires them to come up with their top performance.
In absence of Giannis, Bobby Portis, Pat Connaughton, and Bryn Forbes receive more minutes.
“Guys get a chance to make big plays and on the biggest stage. But at the end of the day, we’d rather play with him,” Jrue Holiday said.
“We’ll see what happens with Giannis,” Khris Middleton said. “It would be great if he plays, but if not, we still have a capable team of going out there and winning.”
“We’ve played games without Giannis, without Khris Middleton, without Jrue Holiday, and hopefully you have a structure and a system where you can function at a high level on both ends of the floor no matter who is playing,” Budenholzer said about playing without Antetokounmpo in Game 5.
Trae Young is also questionable for Game 5.
On the other hand, Trae Young is also questionable for the Hawks for Game 5 with an injury he suffered in Game 3 after stepping on the referee’s foot.
He remained sidelined for Game 4, in which the Hawks dominated the Bucks and ultimately tied the game at 2-2 with a win.
They dominated the Bucks even more after Giannis’s left the game. This shows that the Hawks are equally capable of winning the game in absence of a key player.
So with Young still recovering from a bone bruise, the Hawks can still win the game.
Besides him, Clint Capela is also questionable for Game 5.
Capela is dealing with right eye inflammation after taking an elbow to the face from Bucks rookie Sam Merrill in Game 4.
An @emoryhealthcare injury report for tomorrow’s game at Milwaukee:
Bogdan Bogdanovic (right knee soreness): Probable
Clint Capela (right eye inflammation): Questionable
Trae Young (right foot bone bruise): QuestionableBrandon Goodwin: Out
De’Andre Hunter: Out pic.twitter.com/IS5NCOz39g— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) June 30, 2021
In addition, Bogdan Bogdanovic suffered knee soreness. However, he is listed probably.
“You have to adapt,” Hawks coach Nate McMillan said. “That’s part of coaching. That’s part of the NBA.”
Prayers are up for the injured players.
It’ll be interesting to watch how both the teams deal with the absence of their key players and emerge victorious at the end of Game 5.
The series moves back to Milwaukee, where the Hawks and the Bucks face each other on Thursday for Game 5.
