What Happened to Giannis Antetokounmpo? Is Giannis Hurt?

The Milwaukee Bucks hosted the Miami Heat tonight for Game 1 of the first-round Playoff series. After nearly a week of waiting, Giannis Antetokounmpo and the team finally found who they were playing on Friday. There were many expectations from the series.

Having met Miami twice in the last three playoffs, the Bucks have split the series. While they lost in 2020, they came back and beat the Heat in 2021. A huge reason behind the same was the MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Tonight, Giannis had a rocky start to the game, scoring 6 points and grabbing 3 rebounds in 10 minutes. He picked up two quick fouls, limiting his production a little. However, he soon had to exit the game with a freak injury.

What happened to Giannis Antetokounmpo?

With nearly four minutes left in the first quarter, Giannis was driving to the hoop when he fell down to the floor in a rather abrupt manner.

Giannis with a scary fall 😳

Fortunately, he’s ok 🙏 pic.twitter.com/QaShNkKoUi

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 16, 2023

Giannis immediately grabbed his back. Even though he got up to shoot his free throws, it took him quite long to get up and go do the same. He then checked out of the game and went to the locker room. The Freak did not return, and we got an update that he was ruled out of the rest of the game with a back contusion.

Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo is out for remainder of Game 1 vs. Heat due to lower back contusion.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 16, 2023

This led the Heat to continue on their hot start. Even though Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday tried to stabilize the ship, Jimmy Butler and the Heat were too much for them to handle.

Mike Budenholzer gives an update on Giannis

After the game ended, every media personnel asked Bucks’ Head Coach one important question. How is Giannis Antetokounmpo? What is the extent of his injuries?

Mike B came ready with the information and shared that his X-Ray had come back negative, and he’s suffered a back contusion.

Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer tells reporters that Giannis Antetokounmpo has a back contusion and the x-rays were “clear”.

— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) April 17, 2023

It’s good to know that the X-Ray came back clear. However, this does not mean that he’ll be back for Game 2. We’ll have to wait a little longer to know how bad things are, and when the 2x MVP will return.