Bucks coach Doc Rivers says he expects the injured Antetokounmpo to miss ‘probably two weeks’

MILWAUKEE (AP) – Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers says he expects Giannis Antetokounmpo’s groin strain to keep the two-time MVP out for “probably two weeks.”

Rivers discussed the injury Tuesday while speaking on Bucks+ Audio’s “Courtside with Gale Klappa” podcast.

“I don’t know what grade it is, but I know it’s not a bad one, so that’s good news for us,” Rivers said. “But yet still, probably two weeks he’ll be out. And we’ll see. Hopefully less, but most likely in that area.”

The left groin strain caused Antetokounmpo to leave during the second quarter of the Bucks’ 118-106 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night.

Rivers said afterward that he believed the injury occurred earlier in the game.

“He grabbed his groin, I think in the first quarter, and I asked him right away,” Rivers said Monday during his postgame news conference. “He said it was fine. Then I think he grabbed it again and said it was fine. And then on the third time, you know, that’s when it happened. But I think it happened before, in my opinion.”

Antetokounmpo, 30, enters Tuesday’s action ranked fourth in the NBA in scoring (31.2), seventh in rebounding (10.8) and 15th in assists (6.8).

The Bucks already had been dealing with injuries to Kevin Porter Jr. and Taurean Prince before losing their biggest star.

Prince is out indefinitely with a herniated disk in his neck. Porter hasn’t played since spraining his left ankle in Milwaukee’s season opener, and he also recently had meniscus surgery on his right knee.

The Bucks (8-7) won four of their first five games but have lost six of 10 since, including three of their last four. They begin a three-game homestand Thursday against the Philadelphia 76ers.