Milwaukee Bucks of America’s Nigerian-born ae, Giannis Adetokunbo (Antetokounmpo) is still in doubt for a place in his team’s squad to tango Phoenix Suns in the fist game of this season’s NBA Finals, megasportsarena.com reports.
Initial reports indicated that the Greece international could be back in The Bucks’ squad for the opening match of the 2021 Finals, after missing the last two games of his side’s Eastern Conference play-offs versus Atlanta Hawks, but all those hopes appear heading for the trash bin.
Such much has been revealed in reports heading into Game 1, as Yahoo Sports’ basketball writer, Jared Quay hinting at an absence for ‘The Greek Freak’ while analyzing all the pre-finals’ odds for both teams via BetMGM.
In their last two games, The Bucks proved that they were good enough to wrap up the Eastern Conference finals without their best player, but they will now face a quick turnaround before Game 1 of the NBA Finals in Phoenix on Tuesday night.
It is not known if that leaves Antetokounmpo sufficient time to recover from his hyperextended left knee that prevented him from playing in the final two games of the series against The Hawks.
Quay wrote: “The chances of Giannis Antetokounmpo playing in Game 1 seem pretty slim. The Milwaukee Bucks listed their superstar as doubtful for Tuesday night’s opening game of the NBA Finals after the knee injury he suffered against the Atlanta Hawks.
“Antetokounmpo didn’t play in either Game 5 or Game 6 against the Hawks and will miss his third consecutive game if he doesn’t play on Tuesday. Antetokounmpo’s likely absence and the Suns’ home-court advantage means that Phoenix enters Game 1 as the favorite to win.
“The Suns are six-point favorites on Tuesday night as it looks to continue a nice run at home. Phoenix is 17-3 straight up in its last 20 home games dating back to the regular season. Milwaukee, meanwhile, is 1-6 against the spread against Phoenix in its last seven games against the Suns.
“The teams played twice during the 2020-21 regular season and each game was separated by a point. Phoenix won 125-124 at home on Feb. 10 and then won 128-127 in overtime in Milwaukee on April 19.
“Giannis played in both of those games. (However,) without him on the court (for Milwaukee), oddsmakers clearly think Phoenix has a bigger edge. “
Nonetheless, Bucks’ coach, Mike Budenholzer said he was impressed with the resiliency the Bucks showed in winning back-to-back games without Antetokounmpo, the two-time MVP.
Khris Middleton, who stands with Antetokounmpo as the veteran leaders on the team, scored Milwaukee’s first 16 points of the second half and led the Bucks with 32. Jrue Holiday added 27 points, nine assists, nine rebounds and four steals.
Antetokounmpo remained on the Bucks’ bench and was so animated, sometimes moving onto the court as he communicated with his team-mates, that Budenholzer said he feared the star might draw a technical foul.
Budenholzer said after a 118-107 win over the Hawks gave Milwaukee a 4-2 series victory: “It’s just a day-to-day thing.
“We’ll update it when appropriate. The conversations between he and myself, it’s kind of private and we’ll see where he is each day.”
