When the Milwaukee Bucks take the court to host the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night, star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo won’t be out on the floor with his teammates. Antetokounmpo will has been officially ruled out of the contest due to a low-grade left groin strain that he suffered against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night.
Giannis Antetokounmpo to miss game vs. 76ers due to groin strain
Unfortunately for the Bucks, Antetokounmpo is expected to be sidelined for a couple of weeks with the injury, and the game against Philadelphia is just the first of several that he is likely to miss.
So far this season, the two-time NBA MVP has been playing some of the best basketball of his career, which is really saying something. He’s averaging career-highs in both points (31.2) and assists (6.8) per game. He’s also adding 10.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per performance while shooting 62 percent from the floor. He’s leading the Bucks in points, rebounds, assists and minutes on the season and he was ranked third on the most recent iteration of the NBA’s MVP ladder.
The Bucks are in the midst of a tight race for playoff positioning in the Eastern Conference, and their current objective is to remain competitive without their best player. Milwaukee currently occupies the No. 11 seed in the conference with a record of 8-7. That means that if the playoffs started today, the Bucks would be on the outside looking in.
But the good thing for Milwaukee is that there’s still a whole lot of basketball left to play this season, and Antetokounmpo shouldn’t be sidelined for too long. In the meantime, look for guys like Kyle Kuzma, Myles Turner and Ryan Rollins to pick up some of the scoring slack in Antetokounmpo’s absence.
Including the game against the 76ers, the Bucks will play three consecutive home games, which is good news for as they’re 5-3 at home on the season, compared to just 3-4 on the road.