Bucks with Adrian griffin: 💦 30-13 Bucks with Doc rivers: 🧱 15-15
"I wanted to take him out of the game": Doc Rivers about Giannis Antetokounmpo looking visibly diminished tonight
NBAThursday, 04 April 2024 at 05:52
The Milwaukee Bucks were playing on back-to-back nights againts the Memphis Grizzlies. Giannis Antetokounmpo's squad suffered an awful loss yesterday against the Eastern Conference's second-to-last Wizards. Tonight, the Greek Freak didn't looked as menacing as usual. The medical staff cleared Giannis to play but the Bucks head coach, Doc Rivers, considered differently regarding the two-time MVP performance and his body language. The result: another painful loss against a team that's more focused on the following Draft.
According to coach Rivers, Giannis didn't looked as he was having an off night. Doc pointed out that he looked exhausted at points, and lacking of his characteristic power and speed. Perhaps it was the result of his tremendous effort yesterday, playing nearly 37 minutes and registering an insane triple-double with 35 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, shooting 71% from the field.
On this Wednesday matchup, Antetokounmpo scored 21 points, dished 8 assists and grabbed 7 rebounds. He was way off target registering 40% from the field and 0-4 from long distance. When Doc Rivers was asked about Giannis game, this is what he had to say:
"I thought Giannis did everything he could. Honestly, there were times in the beginning or the middle of the third I wanted to take him out of the game. I thought he was running on fumes. As a coach you got to make a judgment call sometimes, and medical makes the call more. They kept saying he was okay, but I have eyes. I didn't like the way he was moving, that's why I took him out the one time early."
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"He kept asking to go back in, the trainer said it was fine, so he kinda of stuck there, but I wish I had just said no, honestly. In a game when you got Dame out, and Khris out...my gut was saying, let's shut this thing down tonight and get ready for our next game, but It's too late now."
However, despite being well aware of Giannis' condition, Rivers stated that he kept the Greek Freak on the court based on advice from the medical staff.
"Talking to them (trainers), everyone said he was good. Giannis said he was good too after the game. It was just visible, so I'm protective. We wanna be right and healthy, that's more important than winning and losing right now," concluded the Bucks head coach.
Milwaukee is the second seeded in the East, with a 47-28 record. The 5th seeded Knicks are sitting at a 44-31 record, not that far from the Bucks. With only seven games left the Buck's might try to win a couple more to not risk that homecourt advantage for the first round.
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