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While the Milwaukee Bucks pulled off a 128-104 victory on the road against the Toronto Raptors on Monday night, they faced a serious injury scare to Giannis Antetokounmpo. Late in the second quarter, when attempting to chase down and block RJ Barrett’s layup attempt, Giannis caught his right pinky finger on the rim. In obvious discomfort when it happened, the Bucks star checked out of the game before returning later on with his hand and finger wrapped up.
Antetokounmpo played in just 29 minutes, his fewest in over a month, recording 11 points, 12 rebounds, and 13 assists for his fourth triple-double of the season. This marked the first time in league history that a player recorded an 11-12-13 triple-double, according to Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press.
After the game, Giannis’ hand injury was a key talking point, as he was having trouble handling the ball and being aggressive like he normally is due to the cut he suffered on his shooting hand. During his postgame press conference, Bucks head coach Doc Rivers revealed that Antetokounmpo required three stitches near the base of his right pinkie finger.
“He needed stitches. He didn’t wanna come out because he felt like he could finish, but it kept bleeding. It definitely was affecting him. You could see it really was hurting his ballhandling a little bit,” Rivers said. “I think he’s good. I just think it’s stitches, but I actually don’t know where. I think it’s somewhere on his hand.”
The Bucks star told reporters after the game that he was “fine” and that he won’t “overthink” this hand injury and the stitches he received on Monday night. Antetokounmpo is not expected to be limited or miss Wednesday night’s game against the San Antonio Spurs as a result of this hand injury.
Through 28 games, Giannis Antetokounmpo continues to have an MVP-like season for the Bucks. Aside from leading them to a championship in the NBA Cup, Antetokounmpo also leads the NBA in scoring at 31.6 points per game. Entering Monday’s game against the Raptors, he was averaging 32.3 points per game, as scoring only 11 points drastically changed his average.
How this hand injury impacts the Bucks star is yet to be seen. Giannis was visibly frustrated with his ballhandling and passing abilities on Monday following the injury, so this will be a development to keep an eye on against Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs on Wednesday.
Milwaukee is currently 18-16 on the season, the fifth-best record in the Eastern Conference.
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New report sheds light on how Cowboys view Micah Parsons situation
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