CHICAGO (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo returned Saturday night from the right calf strain that kept the two-time MVP from playing in the Milwaukee Bucks’ previous eight games.
The two-time MVP scored a game-high 29 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 112-103 victory over the Chicago Bulls.
He blocked the Bulls’ first field-goal try and ended the game with a dunk to cap his first action since Dec. 3.
“In the past, when I was younger, I think the recovery process for me was way faster,” said Antetokounmpo, who turned 31 this month. “Now you’ve got to be patient with everything.
“I think I followed everything step by step.”
Antetokounmpo was in the starting lineup for the Bucks’ game against the Chicago Bulls, after the team originally listed him as questionable on the injury report.
“The goal is to stay healthy,” Antetokounmpo said, “and be available for the team and make the playoffs.”
Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers said before the game the nine-time All-Star won’t be thrown back into the grind right away.
“He’ll be on a minutes restriction,” Rivers said before the game. He played almost 25 minutes on Saturday night.
Antetokounmpo hasn’t played since injuring his calf less than three minutes into the Bucks’ 113-109 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Dec. 3. The injury came on Antetokounmpo’s fourth game back after a left adductor strain caused him to miss four games.
“Maybe it was a mistake of me coming back a little bit earlier, because once I come back, now you’re overcompensating,” Antetokounmpo said Dec. 18. “The only way you can pop your soleus is by overcompensating and then having an extreme amount of load or play a lot of games in a short period of time. Again, I think all of the things that I was thinking and trying to come back led to the incident that I had with my soleus.”
The Bucks went 2-6 in the eight games Antetokounmpo missed because of the calf issue. So far this season, the Bucks are 10-8 with Antetokounmpo and 3-11 without him.
Antetokounmpo has averaged 28.9 points, 10.1 rebounds and 6.1 assists this season.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Navigating Senior Care, Estate Planning, & Funeral Planning Read morePeace of Mind with a Piece of Cake
cube_corner said:
What an awful sculpture. Very 2022 and already looks dated and cringe. If I was religious, I’d be certain it’s demonic.
LittleFoot said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.