- Bucks big man Bobby Portis has built a strong case for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award this season due to his versatility, energy, leadership, and strong production off the bench, argues Lori Nickel of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. However, as Nickel notes, the award has gone to a shooting guard in 11 of the last 12 years. “I’ve wanted to win it. I’ve been talking about it for, like, five years,” Portis said last week. “Yeah. But they never vote for me though. Because I’m a big man and it is not cool; they told me it’s more of a guard award.”
- Damian Lillard has been ruled out for the Bucks‘ game in Washington on Tuesday due to a right groin strain, tweets Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Lillard also missed Sunday’s contest in Atlanta, though that was said to be for personal reasons.
- Bucks guard Damian Lillard missed tonight’s game in Atlanta for personal reasons, and coach Doc Rivers told reporters he might not be available for Tuesday’s contest at Washington, per Jim Owczarski of The Journal-Sentinel. “Just miss the ‘when you need a bucket, you have Dame,'” Rivers said. “Also just running the team at times. It shortens your rotation again. Khris (Middleton) is still on a semi-minute restriction, even though we’ve ignored it a couple times. Just shortens your rotation.”
After missing Tuesday’s game vs. his former Lakers team due to what the Bucks called a right wrist sprain, Patrick Beverley revealed on his latest podcast that the diagnosis is more serious than that. According to Beverley, who underwent X-rays and an MRI, he has a torn ligament in his right wrist (Twitter video clip).
Beverley said he was informed that he would require surgery to repair the tear and that the procedure would likely sideline him for three to four months.
However, the Bucks guard gave no indication that he’s prepared to go under the knife immediately, suggesting that he plans to do all he can to return to the court this season and play through the injury, perhaps postponing surgery until the summer.
According to Beverley, he sustained the injury when he missed a dunk attempt during warmups prior to Sunday’s game against the Thunder. He was active for that game and was a +12 in 15 minutes, though he missed both of his shots from the floor, as well as one of two free throws.
If they ultimately have to shut down Beverley for the season, it would be a tough blow for the Bucks, who sent Cameron Payne and a second-round pick to the Sixers in exchange for the veteran at February’s trade deadline in an effort to add toughness and upgrade their perimeter defense.
Beverley has struggled to score efficiently since arriving in Milwaukee, making just 34.4% on his field goal attempts, but the 35-year-old has been a regular rotation player, averaging 19.6 MPG in 19 appearances, including two starts.
It’s worth noting that the Bucks have a -5.5 overall net rating in Beverley’s 372 minutes on the court, compared to a +11.7 net mark in the 598 minutes he hasn’t played since joining the roster.
We’ll have to wait for an update from Beverley, the team, or a reporter to get a clearer sense of the treatment plan for the wrist, as well as his availability going forward.
Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo played his 65th game of the season on Thursday vs. Brooklyn, which means he’s now eligible for all the major postseason awards, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter).
A two-time MVP and seven-time All-NBA member, Antetokounmpo has an excellent case for additional hardware in 2023/24. He’s averaging 30.7 PPG, 11.2 RPG, 6.4 APG, 1.2 SPG and 1.0 BPG in 35.0 MPG. 6.4 assists per game represents a career-high, and he’s also shooting a career-best 61.4% from the field.
Here’s more on the Bucks:
- Antetokounmpo had missed the previous two games with a hamstring issue. He discussed the injury following Thursday’s victory, according to Eurohoops. “My goal was to play 82, but when the goal falls apart, you gotta fall back to the second one,” Antetokounmpo said. “There’s a bigger goal here to capture, and you have to think about the bigger picture. I could play through the pain, but it’s not smart in the long run.”
- Damian Lillard has never been known for his defense, but he made some key plays on that end in crunch time last night, writes Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “I think, in my career, I haven’t been known as a defender, but down the stretch of games, I’ve always been able to have a moment or do what I needed to do at the end of a game defensively,” Lillard said. “And it’s not always going to result in a steal. … But tonight, it just happened to be steals. And when you’re on a team of this caliber, I think is important for everybody to just do whatever you got to do for us to win, because we don’t have anything else to play for other than to win. So, I think it’s going to happen in a lot of different ways. And tonight, that’s just how it happened.”
- Head coach Doc Rivers discussed the team’s recent “slippage” defensively prior to Thursday’s game, as Nehm relays (via Twitter). Rivers noted that while being without Antetokounmpo obviously played a factor, the team’s guards also need to do a better job navigating screens, as too many perimeter players have been getting into the paint with little resistance.
- Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo missed Wednesday’s showdown with Boston due to hamstring tightness. Coach Doc Rivers said it wasn’t a tough decision, Eric Nehm of The Athletic tweets. “He’s feeling good, not great,” Rivers said. “Those things are something you don’t take a chance on, especially now, so it wasn’t very hard.”
The Bucks won’t have their best player in uniform for their showdown with Eastern Conference leader Boston tonight. Giannis Antetokounmpo has been ruled out due to a hamstring injury, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
Antetokounmpo also missed Sunday’s game against Phoenix. Bucks coach Doc Rivers stated earlier this week that his goal is to ensure his superstar is healthy for the postseason.
- The Bucks still hold the rights to their first-round pick in this year’s draft and also owns Portland’s second-rounder. With that in mind, The Athletic’s Eric Nehm breaks down potential prospects participating in the NCAA Tournament who could be available late in the first round and early in the second.
Having averaged 41 starts across the last two seasons, Cavaliers swingman Isaac Okoro has locked in his qualifying offer for this offseason, per Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link). As Marks details, the fifth pick in the 2020 lottery out of Auburn will now have a QO worth $11,828,974 this offseason. Should Cleveland extend that offer his way, he’ll become a restricted free agent.
Through 59 games this year (36 starts), Okoro is averaging 9.7 points per game on .494/.396/.686 shooting. The 23-year-old is also posting 3.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.5 blocks in 27.4 minutes per night. He’s best known as a stout perimeter defender, but Okoro’s improved jump shooting would seem to make him worth keeping around well into the future for the Cavaliers.
There’s more out of the Central Division:
- Bucks All-Stars Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo seem to have finally settled into a more consistent application of their pick-and-roll attack, writes Jamal Collier of ESPN. During a recent game against the Lakers, both players looked more at home in frequently trotting out their pick-and-roll action, Collier notes. “We’re trying to just encourage it more,” head coach Doc Rivers said. “That’s what we got to get to.”
- Veteran Bulls swingman DeMar DeRozan is reveling in the opportunity to be the league’s minutes leader, per Cody Westerlund of 670 The Score (Twitter link). “I don’t have other hobbies that cause me to exert any energy, you know,” DeRozan said. “So I try to take care of myself the best I can. And I just love hooping. I love playing the game, no matter how many minutes it is. I just love being out there.” The six-time All-Star, 34, is both the league leader in minutes played with 2,527, and in minutes per game (37.7).
- Pacers All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton is frustrated by his miserable shooting slump since returning from injury, as he noted in post-game comments to the press on Monday, per Indiana (YouTube video link). “Obviously it’s frustrating, I never went through a slump like this in my life,” Haliburton said (hat tip to Paul Terrazzano Jr. of TalkBasket.net for the transcription). “So I just gotta be better, and I will be better moving forward. And if I’m not, we got other people who will be prepared to do it. But I gotta be better, that’s on me.” Haliburton has made 39.0% of his field goal attempts and just 19.0% of his three-pointers while averaging 14.8 points in his past 11 games.
Giannis Antetokounmpo has a case for winning the Most Valuable Player award this season, but Bucks coach Doc Rivers is more concerned with having his superstar forward healthy for the playoffs, Lori Nickel of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes.
Antetokounmpo, who is averaging 30.8 points, 11.2 rebounds and 6.4 assists in 64 games, missed Sunday’s victory over the Suns with minor hamstring soreness. The Bucks superstar had a conversation with Rivers over the weekend.
“I said, I don’t know your body. I just want you to be healthy,” Rivers said. “I don’t get involved because I’ve learned players can read that as me pressuring them to play – and not to play – and you just can’t win with that. I just wanted him to know that it’s OK! If he can’t go. So that’s how I phrased it without being involved.”
We have more on the Bucks:
- Rivers expects Antetokounmpo to return for the showdown with Eastern Conference leader Boston on Wednesday, according to Nehm. “It’s not an injury,” Rivers said. “We’re just concerned a little bit. Plus, if you look at the schedule, you have one, two, three, four, five days off. So we planted it in him and he had to do it, which we were happy he decided to do it.”
- Khris Middleton returned to action on Sunday after missing 16 games due to an ankle injury. He played a major role in the Bucks’ victory with 22 points and seven assists in 25 minutes, ESPN’s Jamal Collier writes. “I’ve been doing this a long time,” Middleton said. “I know how to slow myself and not try to go too fast — or speed myself up. I know how to come in, play at my pace and change my pace. A lot of the work I was doing at rehab was just trying to make sure my wind was there, my conditioning was as good as it can be.”
- Damian Lillard conducting the offense brilliantly on Sunday as Milwaukee posted 140 points. He racked up 31 points and 16 assists in the first 30-point, 15-assist game in Bucks franchise history. “He was just, I think, picking them apart, really,” Middleton said to The Athletic’s Eric Nehm. “Mostly just seeing the crowd that he was attracting and just getting it off early. He trusted the guys out there to make the plays and hit the shots for him.”
- Bucks forward Khris Middleton returned to action on Sunday after missing 16 games with an ankle injury. Middleton had 22 points and seven assists in Milwaukee’s 140-129 win over Phoenix. Giannis Antetokounmpo sat out the contest but coach Doc Rivers is looking forward to having his big three back on the court together. “I know having the other offensive guy really allows us to play both sides of the floor,” he said of Middleton. “I thought at times with Dame (Lillard) and Giannis, we got one-side oriented and didn’t move it. We’d swing it and it’d go back to the same side. With Khris on the other side at times, we can now develop going from a two-man game to a three-man game.”
The Bucks are getting Khris Middleton back on Sunday for the first time since February 6, but they won’t quite be whole yet. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link), Giannis Antetokounmpo will miss the afternoon showdown vs. the Suns in Milwaukee due to left hamstring soreness.
Head coach Doc Rivers initially said he expected Antetokounmpo to play, notes Eric Nehm of The Athletic (Twitter link). The Bucks star had been listed as questionable before being ruled out less than an hour before tip-off, so it doesn’t like an issue that will sideline him for an extended period. Milwaukee will be back in action on Wednesday in Boston, so Giannis will get a couple extra days to rest the injury.