Bucks’ Doc Rivers fear bad ankle sprain for Kevin Porter Jr. after win

Bucks head coach Doc Rivers admitted the injury “didn’t look good” and confirmed that Porter is scheduled to have his MRI on Thursday.

With Damian Lillard gone after being released in the offseason and Kyle Kuzma still trying to find consistency, Kevin Porter Jr. earned a starting role under coach Doc Rivers. Porter made the most of the opportunity, getting off to a promising start before the injury.

As Washington’s Cam Whitmore drove into the lane, Porter was moving backward and seemed to stumble over teammate Bobby Portis’ foot. He stayed on the court in visible pain before being helped to the locker room. The 25-year-old guard had tallied 10 points and two assists in just over nine minutes before the injury occurred.

Doc Rivers on Kevin Porter Jr.’s injury

“We’ve just got to hope for the best, but looking at it, it was a pretty bad sprain,” Doc Rivers added.

Rivers noted that Porter’s injury seemed to take the wind out of Milwaukee’s sails, affecting both their ball movement and defensive effort after a dominant first quarter in which they outscored the Wizards 40-23.

“Not having ‘Scoot’ out there was huge,” remarked the Bucks head coach.

Should Porter be ruled out for several games, Ryan Rollins and Cole Anthony will likely absorb most of his minutes.

Porter turned into a valuable piece for Milwaukee last season after arriving from the Los Angeles Clippers at the trade deadline, averaging 11.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 3.7 assists in 30 appearances. Before joining the Bucks, he logged 9.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 3.2 assists over 45 games in Los Angeles.

There’s growing concern about how the Bucks will hold up without a true point guard as the season wears on. Porter had started to bring stability to the offense, providing the spacing and rhythm needed in a system built around Giannis. That’s likely why Doc Rivers sounded genuinely worried about the severity of his injury.