The Milwaukee Bucks are confident Giannis Antetokounmpo’s hand injury won’t prevent him from lining up against Victor Wembanyama and the visiting San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night.
Antetokounmpo, who is listed as probable, received three stitches to fix a cut near the base of his right pinky finger during the Bucks’ 128-104 road win against Toronto on Monday.
The two-time MVP banged his finger on the rim on a chase-down block attempt on R.J. Barrett late in the first half.
After an immediate timeout was called, Antetokounmpo played through most of the third quarter — during which he completed his fourth triple-double of the season — before sitting out the fourth.
“He didn’t want to come out because he felt like he could finish, but it kept bleeding,” Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers said. “It definitely was affecting him. You could see it really hurt his ball handling a little bit. I think he’s good (to face San Antonio).”
Antetokounmpo, who is averaging a career-best 31.6 points per outing, was in high spirits when discussing the laceration after the game.
“I feel great,” he said. “I got some stitches in my finger. I told my wife … my wife’s still with me. She still likes me. We won the game, good day.”
Antetokounmpo’s 11-point haul was his only sub-20 scoring night of the season, but he contributed a season-best 13 assists and pulled down 12 rebounds.
Damian Lillard (25 points), Bobby Portis (20) and Gary Trent Jr. (17) all benefited from Antetokounmpo’s selfless approach.
“I gotta tell you, he set a tone to start the game with his passing,” Rivers said. “I thought that just set the whole tone to our team. When your best player does that it can become contagious and the ball just moved.
“We shot 44 threes (at) 50 percent, but they were open threes because they pressure and they help. I thought we did a great job of moving the ball.”
Khris Middleton traveled to Canada before being ruled out before tipoff to manage his surgically repaired ankles.
The three-time All-Star remains listed as probable against the Spurs, who crumbled down the stretch in Chicago on Monday.
San Antonio held a 19-point lead in the third and still held sway by seven points on Chris Paul’s 27-footer with 3:53 remaining in the fourth, before conceding the last 11 points to be mowed down 114-110.
“Attention to detail and respect for some of the little things, which went into (how) we got the lead, wavered,” Spurs interim coach Mitch Johnson said.
“And then we had a fight on our hands.
“You have to fight the human nature of being complacent or happy with yourselves when things are going well in the middle of a game. We felt the game flip. That lack of respect at times for some of the details played a part.”
Wembanyama, who compiled 23 points, 14 boards and eight blocks, questioned San Antonio’s maturity level.
“It’s very frustrating,” the second-year star said. “For sure, right now we should have more wins, but we don’t deserve more wins because this is our level, our maturity.
“This one is a tough one, for sure, but apparently, we need those two to grow.”
–Field Level Media
