The Milwaukee Bucks and the Atlanta Hawks are in the do-or-die situation right now to make a place in the NBA finals.
As they are in an elimination game for the Eastern Conference finals. Hence need every player on the court healthy.
But unfortunate situations are bound to happen and injuries are unavoidable in the game where physical strength is used.
The same situation occurred on Tuesday night, Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo met with an unfortunate accident on the court.
Antetokounmpo forced to leave Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night after suffering a knee injury.
Hence, ruled out for the rest of the game.
Both the teams are now without their key players as the Hawks stars Trae Young ruled out of Game 4 with an injury.
The Hawks took the lead over the Bucks early in the half then after Giannis’s injury, the Hawks dominated them.
They took 20 point lead afterward and took the win at the end to tie the series 2-2.
Giannis injury
Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo played the game despite suffering a calf injury.
Through three games in this series, Antetokounmpo averaged 30.7 points, 10.7 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 2.0 steals, and 1.0 blocks in 37.0 minutes.
But Giannis suffered from another very unfortunate injury in the third quarter of Game 4.
He suffered the injury while attempting to block the Hawks center Clint Capela at the rim with 7:14 left in the third quarter.
Prayers up for Giannis 🙏🏾pic.twitter.com/Wz69bjRR0t
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) June 30, 2021
Antetokounmpo tangled with Capela and landed awkwardly. He quickly fell to the ground carrying his knee and stayed on the ground for several minutes.
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.
According to Mallika Andrew, “Giannis is expected to undergo further imaging on his left knee tomorrow.”
His situation for the rest of the series is very doubtful.
Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer after the game said on Antetokounmpo, “We’ll see how he is tomorrow.”
Now with the series tied at 2-2, the game could go to either team and this is a very crucial moment for the Bucks.
The Bucks after Giannis’s injury.
The Hawks took the lead early in the game and were 62-52 at the time of the injury.
The Bucks entered the court on Tuesday night with a 2-1 series lead and were favorites to take the win.
While the Hawks were at a disadvantage with their star Trae Young ruled out of the game before the start of Game 4.
Young tweaked his ankle in the third quarter of Game 3 and still had bruises in the right foot, making him unavailable.
His situation is unknown for the rest of the series. Despite that, the Hawks started strong for Game 4.
Antetokounmpo had 14 points and eight rebounds before the injury. He was playing brilliantly, having made a dunk and block just a moment earlier.
Hence the Bucks trailed the Hawks by 10 points at the time of the injury but after he left the game.
Everything for the Bucks started to fell apart as the Hawks made a 15-0 run and extending the lead to 24 points at 77-54 with about four-minute left in the third quarter.
Bogdan's 5th triple of the night caps a 12-0 @ATLHawks run and gets the building BUZZING!#NBAPlayoffs on TNT pic.twitter.com/gLzJDOFkTS
— NBA (@NBA) June 30, 2021
Subsequently, the Bucks failed to make a return and the Hawks won the game 110-88 and tied the series 2-2.
“It’s not great,” P.J. Tucker said about playing without Antetokounmpo. “It’s an opportunity for someone else and everybody else to step up. It’s the Eastern Conference finals. There are no excuses. It doesn’t matter who’s playing, who’s not playing. They got guys out. Everybody’s hurt. Everybody’s banged up, you got to fight through and win.”
What’s next?
With both the key stars Giannis from Bucks and Trae Young from the Hawks ruled out, for now, the burden is upon other players in the team and the team that can step up will have a better chance of winning.
The Hawks and the Bucks now face each other for Game 5 on Thursday as the series move back to Fiserv Forum at Milwaukee.
The team to win the Eastern Conference Finals will face either the Phoenix Suns to the LA Clippers, who are competing in Western Conference Finals with the Suns taking a 3-2 series lead.
It’ll be interesting to see how the team copes in the absence of their key player and former MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.
