MILWAUKEE (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo won’t play in the Milwaukee Bucks’ game Sunday against the Phoenix Suns because of what the team is describing as a bruised right quadriceps.
That means neither team will have its MVP available for the afternoon matchup. Kevin Durant remains out for Phoenix because of a sprained right medial collateral ligament and hasn’t played since Jan. 8, when he was still with the Brooklyn Nets.
Antetokounmpo left the Bucks’ 128-99 victory over the Miami Heat on Friday in the first quarter after team officials said he knocked knees with an opposing player. The Bucks called it a right knee issue at the time, but the injury report for Sunday’s game lists the two-time MVP with a bruised right quad.
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“It’s enough where he can’t play today, but I think we’re also confident that this is just a fairly common occurrence in our league,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said before the game. “You hit knees, you knock, sometimes it takes a day or two, and it’s really nothing more than that. The level of conversations have all been kind of along that line.”
Budenholzer said Bobby Portis will start in place of Antetokounmpo.
Antetokounmpo had started Friday’s game after a sprained right wrist caused him to leave Milwaukee’s 112-100 victory at Chicago on Feb. 16, which marked the Bucks’ last game before the All-Star break. Antetokounmpo played only 20 seconds in the All-Star Game and went to New York the next day to have the wrist examined, but he recovered from that injury quickly enough to play Friday.
The Bucks also will be missing Wesley Matthews on Sunday for a second straight game due to a strained right calf. Pat Connaughton is available for the Bucks after missing the Heat game because of a sore left calf.
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