On Thursday night, the Milwaukee Bucks were routed by the Minnesota Timberwolves on the road. In the course of that 108-89 defeat, though, the Bucks suffered some additional losses.
Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and guard Malcolm Brogdon both suffered injuries in the course of the loss that have the Bucks wondering how they will fare going forward. For Brogdon, the reigning Kia Rookie of the Year, he exited last night’s game with a left quadriceps strain suffered in the second quarter.
He appeared to suffer the injury while going up for a non-contact, breakaway layup. After making the basket, Brogdon remained standing under the basket as play continued, picking up his left leg and bending it at the knee while putting his weight on his right leg. Thon Maker committed a foul on the possession to stop play so Brogdon could be tended to.
Antetokounmpo suffered an injury to his left ankle in the final five minutes of the game as the Bucks were attempting a comeback of sorts. He came out of the game when the injury occurred and told reporters about his injury after the game.
Matt Velazquez of The Journal Sentinel has more on the injuries Brogdon and Antetokounmpo suffered:
During the break in the action, Brogdon was attended to by team medical personnel and was surrounded by his teammates before being helped to the locker room by D.J. Wilson and Xavier Munford. There he was given the initial diagnosis of a left quad tendon strain and remained out for the rest of the game.
Brogdon, who left the locker room on crutches with a stabilizing cast on his left leg following the game, will undergo further tests Friday. If those tests reveal Brogdon’s tendon is partially or completely torn — or the injury is something else that is more severe — he could miss significant time and his season could be in jeopardy.
“You could tell by him sitting there he wasn’t in great spirits,” said Middleton, who had 21 points in the loss. “Hopefully it’s not as bad as he thinks and he’ll be out there sooner than later.”
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Milwaukee, which never led, couldn’t ever get the margin under double digits despite 17 points and 15 rebounds from Antetokounmpo, who played 35 minutes, including 32 in the first three quarters. He returned to the court with around nine minutes left in the fourth with the Bucks down by 23. Milwaukee cut the margin to 17 with Antetokounmpo in but never got closer before he subbed out with 5:05 on the clock.
During that time, Antetokounmpo turned his left ankle. In the locker room, he said he turned it badly enough that he had trouble putting weight on it, resulting in a limp. He doesn’t know exactly how serious the injury is, saying he’ll have to see how it feels on Friday.
Brogdon is averaging 13.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game this season, while Antetokounmpo ranks second in the NBA in scoring (28.2 ppg) while leading the Bucks in rebounding (10.4 rpg) and assists (4.8 apg).
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