Milwaukee Bucks superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has not played in more than five weeks, is set to return from his calf injury on Monday night against the Boston Celtics, as first reported by ESPN. He will face a minutes restriction in his first game in more than a month.
As of 1:30 pm ET on Monday, the Bucks have listed Giannis as questionable for Monday night's game.
Antetokounmpo has not played since Jan. 23, when the Bucks lost 102-100 to the Denver Nuggets. Earlier in the game, Giannis suffered a worrisome right calf strain that sidelined him during the All-Star break and an eventful trade deadline where the two-time MVP was brought up in trade conversations around the league.
Although several teams, including the Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves and Miami Heat, held direct talks with the Bucks about a trade for Giannis before the February 5 trade deadline, Milwaukee was never serious in its intent to trade the multi-time All-Star, league sources told ClutchPoints.
The teams that were showing heavy interest in Antetokounmpo never once felt that Giannis being traded in the middle of the season was a real possibility, and the Bucks informed him of this hours before the trade deadline.
Without Giannis, the Bucks have actually had quite a bit of success, winning eight of their last 15 games and moving within three games of the Charlotte Hornets for the 10-seed in the Eastern Conference standings. Cam Thomas, Ryan Rollins and Kevin Porter Jr. have been great playing off each other in the Bucks' backcourt.
The Bucks are still attempting to make the playoffs this season, and Giannis has made it clear to the organization that he has no intentions of sitting out the remainder of the year. This is why the organization is not following in the footsteps of those finishing at the bottom of the league standings and conceding the season.
With Antetokounmpo returning to the lineup on Monday night against Boston, the Bucks will look to keep their momentum in a positive direction. After their game against the Celtics, who are playing their second game in as many nights, Milwaukee will enter a number of games against some teams with losing records and other teams battling major injury concerns.
There's potentially a way to find success and move up in the standings, which is why the Bucks and Antetokounmpo are still fighting entering March.
In 30 games this season, Giannis is averaging 28.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game, while shooting 64.5 percent from the floor. Missing more than 17 games this season resulted in him being ineligible for season-ending awards and honors, meaning Antetokounmpo's streak of seven consecutive All-NBA first-team selections and nine straight All-NBA selections overall has ended.
