A lost season for superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks continues Tuesday, when they host the stumbling Cleveland Cavaliers.
Antetokounmpo is a game-time decision for the Central Division matchup after injuring his left knee while landing on a spinning dunk in the third quarter of a 134-123 home win over the Indiana Pacers on Sunday.
The two-time MVP walked gingerly to the locker room with a left ankle sprain, and the team listed him as questionable against the Cavaliers.
“I saw something live that didn’t look good, honestly,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “I can’t remember what I saw in the video, but yeah. We have no idea.”
Antetokounmpo had 31 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists as Milwaukee) snapped a four-game skid — its second win in the last 10 games — and crawled within 5 1/2 games of the Charlotte Hornets for the final play-in tournament spot in the Eastern Conference.
“I’m just going to go back home, sleep, see how I feel tomorrow, try to lift some weights,” Antetokounmpo said. “As of now, I’m not really bothered.”
The 10-time All-Star is averaging 27.6 points, 9.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists in a career-low 36 games, missing time with right calf and left ankle issues. His 31 missed contests make him ineligible for all postseason awards and most statistical leaderboards.
As a result, the Bucks have been forced to learn to live without Antetokounmpo, a situation that could become permanent if he pursues a trade over the summer.
Bobby Portis took the baton against Indiana, finishing with 29 points, six 3-pointers and 10 rebounds off the bench, and point guard Ryan Rollins continued his solid season with 20 points and seven assists.
“I just thought the ball moved and everybody got involved with that,” Rivers said. “Giannis was aggressive when he needed and passed when he needed to pass. And as a team, we took care of the ball and we made more threes.”
Cleveland sits fourth in the Eastern Conference and is on its way to the postseason, but has dropped six of its last 11. The positive momentum it built after acquiring James Harden from the Los Angeles Clippers has been blunted.
The Cavaliers’ latest loss was one of their worst of the season, a 130-120 home defeat to the Dallas Mavericks, in which Harden and Donovan Mitchell made just 14 of 36 field-goal attempts.
Just two nights earlier, Cleveland hammered the Mavericks on the road 138-105.
“This was a bad loss, no doubt about it,” said Mitchell, who had 26 points and 11 assists. “… It was all sunshine and rainbows (after the Harden trade), but you have to kind of go through these moments and figure that out. We don’t have time to delay this, but I think this is good for us. We’ll figure these things out.”
Harden had 13 points, seven assists and six turnovers, but couldn’t compete with the speed of Mavericks guards Ryan Nembhard and Max Christie.
The second half of the home-and-home series featured Max Strus’ season debut, where he scored 24 points in 23 minutes off the bench. The aggressive shooting guard hadn’t played since the 2025 East semifinals against Indiana, as he required left foot surgery.
Strus drained 6 of 7 3-point attempts and grabbed eight rebounds as the second substitute for coach Kenny Atkinson.
“It meant a lot; there was a lot of people who played a part in getting me back to this point,” Strus said. “Everybody has been telling me I need to be more positive, so I’m still going to try to be myself but understand and be grateful for a lot of things.”
–Field Level Media
