Bucks’ Doc Rivers drops discouraging Giannis Antetokounmpo injury update after Damian Lillard bombshell

Without both Antetokounmpo and Lillard present and fully healthy, Indiana is quite the handful. Pascal Siakam is averaging 30 points and 11 boards per game this series, while Tyrese Haliburton is contributing 13 points and 12 assists. Haliburton also hit the game-winning floater in Game 3, despite Bucks guard Khris Middleton’s nuclear 42-point performance.

Center Myles Turner is also a major threat, as he led the Pacers with 29 points last game. After struggling in Game 1, Indiana has scored 125 and 121 points in the last two games, respectively. Middleton himself won’t be enough to counteract that level of offensive production.

Sometimes, sports come down to luck, and Milwaukee hasn’t had much of it recently. With both Antetokounmpo and Lillard in the lineup, the Bucks went 44-21 this year, while also outscoring opponents by 10.2 points per 100 possessions together, via NBA.com. The team had championship potential at full strength, but it doesn’t look like it’ll get to even sniff the mountaintop this season.

This is particularly brutal for Milwaukee after the way last season ended. Antetokounmpo also got injured during the first round, and the Bucks fell to the Jimmy Butler-lead Miami Heat in five games. Milwaukee was just the fifth one-seed in history to lose to an eight-seed and the first since 2011. The Bucks then were forced to watch from the couch as the Heat became the first eight-seed to make the NBA Finals since 1999.

To make matters worse, Milwaukee doesn’t have a long championship window. The squad is the second-oldest in the league with an average age of 28.8 years old. Brook and Robin Lopez are each 35, while Lillard and Jae Crowder are each 33.

Antetokounmpo, however, will always be a saving grace for the roster. The 29-year-old theoretically has about three or four more years of elite play left before he inevitably declines. He gives the Bucks a foundation to build on, but that won’t last forever, either.

Sometimes, injuries can ruin what looks like an exciting team on paper. Unfortunately, Milwaukee fans will probably have to wait until next year to get another bite at the apple, hopefully with a fully healthy roster by that point.