Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard ruled out for Thunder clash

02/03/2025 05:19 PM

The Milwaukee Bucks’ losing ways are likely to continue on Monday evening when they face the Western Conference-best Oklahoma City Thunder.

Both Giannis Antetokounmpo (knee) and Damian Lillard (groin) are ruled out for this matchup, per the Bucks’ X page. That is not ideal at all given how good of a team OKC is. On top of Giannis and Dame, Khris Middleton won’t play, while Bobby Portis Jr is doubtful. He’s been out for the last five games due to personal reasons. Injuries have been piling up for the Bucks.

Doc Rivers’ squad are 6-4 in their last 10 but have lost three in a row and four of their last five. The Memphis Grizzlies wiped the floor with the Bucks on Sunday night, beating them 132-119. The Greek Freak and Lillard both played in that contest, so they’re likely just getting some rest here on the tail end of a back-to-back.

Antetokounmpo had 30 points in the defeat to Memphis but Dame struggled, posting just 15 points and shooting 4 for 15 from the field. The absence of Portis Jr. has hurt the Bucks lately because of his physical presence down low. Lillard shed light on that to Dan Simmons following Sunday’s game:

"That’s a big, big hole in our team without Bobby being here," Lillard said. "Not having Bobby on both ends of the floor, you know, I think that’s been obviously something that we struggled with."

"We’ve been designed to be a big team and have two bigs on the floor," Lillard continued. Without Portis, "It affects our rotations defensively because we like to have one big protect another big. And a lot of the times lately, you know, it’s one big out there after the start of the game. So it just kind of changes things."

The Bucks are sitting in fifth place in the Eastern Conference with a 26-21 record. Monday’s clash is the first of a three-game road trip for the team.

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