Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo is averaging 30.4 ppg this season.
The Milwaukee Bucks were without star Giannis Antetokounmpo for Sunday's playoff series-opening win over the Indiana Pacers.
Per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, The The team is confident He'll fit in at some point in the first round.
Milwaukee did just fine without him for one game. Damian Lillard scored a franchise record 35 points in the first half as the Bucks took a 109-94 victory and a 1-0 series lead. Game 2 Tuesday (8:30 p.m. ET, NBA TV)
What happened: Antetokounmpo was injured on April 9 in a 104-91 loss against the Boston Celtics. He was walking up the court after a 3-point basket by Boston's Derrick White late in the third quarter when the two-time Kia MVP grabbed his left calf. He sat on the floor before being helped off the court.
A day later, the Bucs waived Antetokounmpo for the final three games of the regular season (Milwaukee went 1-2 during that span).
„He's fine,” Rivers said Tuesday. „He's coming around, looking good. I can tell (he's) further along than we thought, but not ready yet.
Series Impact: The Bucks went 1-4 against the Pacers this season, but it wasn't because of a lack of production from Antetokounmpo. He averaged 42.2 points, 13 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.2 blocks while shooting 67.6% in those five games against Indiana.
Overall this season, Antetokounmpo is averaging 30.4 ppg, 11.5 rpg, 6.5 apg, 1.2 spg and 1.1 bpg on 61.1% shooting and 27.4% on 3-pointers.
Antetokounmpo's absence could mean the benefit of the lineup Milwaukee has used in his absence, where veteran Bobby Portis — usually one of the team's main reserves — has stepped into a starting role. Portis has been solid as a starter this season (19.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 1.8 apg, 2.5 spg on 61.1% shooting) in the Bucks' series openers if he's pressed into that role.
In addition to Portis, Milwaukee could also reach out to veterans like Jae Crowder and Danilo Gallinari to help offset some of the production lost in Antetokounmpo's absence. However, most of the burden will fall on All-Star guard Damian Lillard while the Bucks' star big man is on the mend.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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