Milwaukee Bucks injury report: Is Giannis playing tonight vs. Celtics? TV channel, time, starters, odds for game
BOSTON – The Milwaukee Bucks face the best team in the NBA in the Boston Celtics tonight at TD Garden, as the two top teams in the Eastern Conference go head-to-head for the third time this year.
The Celtics (54-14) won the first meeting between the teams, 119-116, on Nov. 22 in Boston while the Bucks (44-24) won, 135-102, at Fiserv Forum on Jan. 11.
Is Giannis playing?
No. Giannis Antetokounmpo began the day questionable to play with left hamstring tendinopathy, and the MVP candidate was not seen at the Bucks’ shootaround on Wednesday morning in Boston. He was officially ruled out later in the afternoon.
Antetokounmpo missed the Bucks’ win over Phoenix on Sunday with soreness in the hamstring after going through pregame warmups. Bucks head coach Doc Rivers wasn't ready to call the hamstring issue an "injury" before the game against the Suns, and noted it would give Antetokounmpo five days off before the Celtics game. Antetokounmpo did some "light" work in practice on Tuesday.
The 29-year-old said he first felt an issue in the muscle when playing against the Los Angeles Clippers on March 10, and he played the next two games in Sacramento and against Philadelphia.
“You don’t play with calves and hamstrings," Antetokounmpo said after the win over the 76ers on March 14. "They’re shaky. You can feel like a strain or whatever the case may be and it’s (small) and it gets bigger and bigger and bigger. So, that’s pretty much going to be longer out. So you don’t mess with stuff like that."
The forward's absence means that Rivers has had his "big three" of Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Damian Lillard for just three games since taking over -- which happened to be his first three games in Denver (Jan. 29), in Portland (Jan. 31) and at Dallas (Feb. 3).
Middleton sat out the Feb. 4 game in Utah as part of knee management on a back-to-back, then Lillard sat out in Phoenix on Feb. 6 with an ankle sprain -- only to see Middleton severely sprain his left ankle eight minutes into that game. He returned to the court on Sunday, which was Antetokounmpo's first absence with the hamstring.
The Bucks return home for a game against Brooklyn on Thursday, which is one of their 13 remaining regular season games. The season ends in about three and a half weeks on April 14.
What is the Bucks record without Giannis?
3-1. The Bucks beat Toronto (Nov. 15), lost to Cleveland (Jan. 17), beat the Clippers (March 4) and the Suns (March 17).
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What channel is the Bucks game on?
The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN with Mark Jones, Doris Burke and Cassidy Hubbarth on the call. It will be simulcast locally on WMLW with Lisa Byington, Marques Johnson and Melanie Ricks on the call.
What time is the Bucks game?
The game is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. CT start.
Bucks injury report
Giannis Antetokounmpo, out (left hamstring tendinopathy)
MarJon Beauchamp, probable (back spasms)
Bucks probable starters
Guards: Damian Lillard, Malik Beasley
Forwards: Khris Middleton, Jae Crowder
Center: Brook Lopez
Celtics injury report
Jrue Holiday, questionable (right AC joint sprain)
Jaylen Brown, questionable (right ankle sprain)
Sam Hauser, questionable (left ankle sprain)
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Bucks still clinging to No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference
The Bucks head into tonight’s game against the Celtics 20 games over .500 and in second place in the Eastern Conference and one game clear of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the loss column. The Celtics, the only team in the NBA to have clinched a playoff spot already, are barreling toward the No. 1 seed – but Bucks head coach Doc Rivers said recently he’s not too focused on where his team falls by the end of the regular season.
“I’ve never, in my entire coaching career, worried about seedings,” he said. “Either you’re good enough or you’re not. And that’s the bottom line. I think I’m going history lesson, but in 2010 if you remember we elected not to play any of our guys in the last game, that switched us I think from the (three) seed to the (four) seed and our guys didn’t care. We made it to the finals. If you’re good enough, you’re good enough, if you’re not, you’re not, and that’s a fact. I tell you what, I’d rather be healthy enough. And that’s why you try to make sure you’re healthy going into the playoffs. And then the second thing after health, you have to be playing well. ‘Cause if you’re not playing well going into the playoffs you’re not going to make it either. So you need those two things going for you – health and playing well.”
Rivers’ title-winning Boston team in 2007-08 was the No. 1 seed with a 66-16 record and his 2009-10 team was the fourth seed before reaching the finals.
The Bucks made earning the No. 1 seed a goal last regular season and accomplished it with a 58-24 record. But after an injury to Giannis Antetokounmpo in the first game of the first round of the playoffs, they were bounced in five games by the Miami Heat.
Milwaukee also earned the top seed in the East in 2018-19 (60-22) and 2019-20 (56-17) and lost in the conference finals and second round, respectively.
The Bucks were the No. 3 seed in 2020-21 at 46-26 before winning the NBA championship and the third seed in 2021-22 (51-31) before losing in the second round.
Bucks vs. Celtics odds, over/under
Boston is an 8.5-point favorite over Milwaukee. The over/under is 225.5 points, per BetMGM.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Bucks injury report: Is Giannis playing tonight vs. Boston?
