Giannis Antetokounmpo ‘DID NOT rupture Achilles tendon, MRI reveals’ after Milwaukee Bucks star suffers non-contact injury in win over Boston: Former MVP’s return depends on ‘treatment and rehabilitation’

The Milwaukee Bucks received some good news Wednesday morning when The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that Giannis Antetokounmpo avoided any damage to his left Achilles tendon when he suffered a non-contact injury in Tuesday’s win over the Boston Celtics.

Fans feared that Antetokounmpo may have ruptured a tendon on the play after falling on the wood in the defensive zone on an otherwise routine play.

The Bucks have not yet released test results, but Charania reports that Antetokounmpo has a calf strain that will require treatment and rehabilitation. His return is still unclear at this time.

Team spokespersons did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s request for confirmation.

The Bucks are currently in second place in the Eastern Conference, 14 games behind the first-place Celtics, who were without several starters on Tuesday.

Bucks coach Doc Rivers said after the game that Antetokounmpo would undergo an MRI on his calf and would also have his Achilles tendon examined. Rivers was asked about his level of concern.

“High, I’d say that,” Rivers said. ‘This is Giannis. I think everyone probably feels the same way I do right now. “We’re just going to hope for the best.”

Patrick Beverley had 20 points and 10 rebounds after the Bucks changed their lineup by starting the veteran guard ahead of Malik Beasley, who came off the bench for the first time all season.

But that lineup change was overshadowed by the Antetokounmpo situation.

Antetokounmpo was walking onto the court late in the third quarter after a Celtics basket when he grabbed his left calf and sat down. They helped him get up from the court and the cameras showed him heading to the locker room under his own power.

The Bucks said Antetokounmpo had a left soleus strain. The soleus is a calf muscle.

“Any time you see one of your teammates go down, I think it’s a real level of concern,” Bucks guard Damian Lillard said. ‘We spend a lot of time together, more than with our families. I think that was number one. And then for him to be your best player, the most important part of our team, at this point in the season, it was like an ‘Oh, (damn)’ moment, especially because there was no one else around.”

Antetokounmpo had 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, and also attempted the only free throws of the game. He went 1-for-2 from the line in the first quarter.

The previous record for fewest combined attempts in a game was 11.

“I didn’t realize that until they told me right before I came in,” Bucks center Brook Lopez said during his postgame availability. ‘It’s strange, after the fact. I honestly didn’t understand it the entire game. I didn’t notice it.’

Milwaukee withstood Antetokounmpo’s injury thanks to a bright start that allowed the Bucks to take a 24-point lead in the first half.

“That was the first time the game wasn’t going our way since I don’t remember when, you know what I mean?” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “For me, it’s a good opportunity to play around, find different ways to create courses, find different ways to just build things at each end of the court.” “I thought it was a good situation for us because we hadn’t seen him in a long time.”

Lopez and Bobby Portis each scored 15 points, and Lillard and Khris Middleton added 12 each. Portis also had 10 rebounds.

The Celtics, who have already achieved the best regular-season record in the NBA and the first overall playoff berth, were playing without Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis. Horford was unavailable because of a sprained left big toe, and the Celtics are managing Porzingis’ workload after he missed five games last month with a sprained right hamstring.

Jayson Tatum scored 22 points to lead the Celtics. Jaylen Brown had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Jrue Holiday scored 12 points.

Lopez was 4 of 5 on 3-point attempts in the first six minutes to set the tone for a first quarter in which the Bucks shot 14 of 18 overall and 8 of 10 from 3-point range.