Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo Does Individual Work, Questionable for Game 4

There’s no time like now for Giannis Antetokounmpo to return to the Bucks.

After all, they trail their first-round series vs. the Heat by a 2-1 count, and without Antetokounmpo, it very well could be more of the same for Milwaukee.

On the bright side, Antetokounmpo did some individual work on Sunday. On the downside, he remains questionable with the lower back contusion suffered last week, coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters.

“We’ll see how he feels from this session today and see how he wakes up tomorrow,” Budenholzer said, via Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

“I think the medical group, myself, (general manager Jon Horst), Giannis just gotta feel like he’s in a place where he can play. It’s just a little bit of everything. When we make a decision, whether he’s in or out, we’ll let you guys know, but we’ll just continue to monitor him.”

The Bucks are the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and it’s extremely rare for a top seed to lose to the No. 8 seed. But clearly, this series is not going to be easy.

Overall, Milwaukee is 12-9 with Antetokounmpo this season, including the two playoffs games.

“The collaboration, the communication, it’s gotta be the player and the medical group, the player and the coach, the player and the front office or the GM and he is the constant, he is the key,” Budenholzer said of the process of evaluating Antetokounmpo, via Owczarski. “He always wants to make himself available, he does everything to make himself available, he wants to play.

“But I think there’s also a maturity for Giannis and an understanding and a growth that I think we just respect and I think he respects us.”