Panic Alarms In Milwaukee: Doc Rivers Has A "High Level" Of Concern About Giannis' Non Contact Injury To His Calf

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The Bucks welcomed the shorthanded Celts to town tonight and make no mistake, they whooped that ass. They punched first early and pretty much controlled the game wire to wire. A much needed win for them, we'll talk more about that tomorrow in the Celts blog. 

Aside from the big win, the only thing that really matters as a result of this game is the health of Giannis. 

When this happened in real time, it felt like in the moment it was probably a cramp. Given the way Giannis reacted and then the clip of him walking to the locker room, the hope was he avoided anything serious. That's what's tricky when it comes to these non-contact injuries, all you can really do is hope for the best. I don't care who your favorite team is, seeing guys have a non-contact injury is always shitty.

Initial reports came back that it was a calf strain, which while an injury like that has it's own challenges and recovery timeline, initial reports that it wasn't the achilles was a relief. With that said, Giannis is still going to have an MRI as well as his achilles checked as well

When asked about it, Doc gave the answer I think everyone has at a time like this when talking about the concern level

While a strain is certainly the "best case" scenario, the playoffs start in 11 days. That's not exactly a ton of time to come back from an injury like that, and if you rush it, well that can lead to disaster. It goes without saying how important Giannis is to the Bucks and their title hopes, so losing him for any considerable stretch is significant not just for MIL, but the entire landscape of the East.

Granted, Giannis is like Wolverine in that he can somehow heal in a blink of an eye. Remember when his leg got all fucked up in the Finals? He was back in a flash and his same old self. I wouldn't rule out something like that happening here, but we'll have to wait for the MRI results I guess. 

At the end of the day, injuries will always suck. To have one this close to the end of the season on a team contending to win a title is tough, but let's hope for the best.