TOP BUCKS PLAYER
The Bucks struggled this week, dropping a pair of games to the Miami Heat with a win over the Washington Wizards sandwiched in between, but Giannis Antetokounmpo continued to put up big numbers. He averaged 23.7 points, 12.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.0 steals over those three games, including his first 20-20 game with 27 points and a career-high 20 rebounds against the Wizards.
BUCKS LOOK AHEAD
Milwaukee is forging ahead without Antetokounmpo, who missed Saturday's game in Philadelphia and will sit out Monday against Phoenix. The Bucks then get a break with three off-days before hosting the Brooklyn Nets at the BMO Harris Bradley Center on Friday, the first matchup between the teams this season.
BUCKS QUOTE
Antetokounmpo, on being selected to start his second successive All-Star Game and winning the player vote among frontcourt players in the Eastern Conference:
“That’s crazy for me. I feel like players see that I play hard every day, they know every night that I step on the floor I play hard for my team and do whatever it takes to win. I think I’m almost like a nightmare for them, so of course they have to give me their votes.”
TOP NBA PLAYER
New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis only scored eight points in Wednesday's loss to the Atlanta Hawks and still outscored everyone else in the NBA over the past seven days. Last Sunday, Davis torched the New York Knicks with 48 points, 17 rebounds, four steals and three blocks in an overtime victory. Then Tuesday against the Boston Celtics, Davis had 45 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Pelicans to a 116-113 win.
TOP NBA TEAM
The Los Angeles Clippers have made a lot of headlines for the heated contest they had with the Houston Rockets last week. While the Rockets were using a secret hallway to infiltrate the Clippers locker room, the Clippers were on their way to six straight wins to break back into the Western Conference playoff picture. Los Angeles went 3-0 with wins over the Sacramento Kings, Rockets and Denver Nuggets. Lou Williams has led the charge with 24.7 points per game, while Blake Griffin has added 20.0 points, 8.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game in the three contests.
NBA QUOTE
Clippers coach Doc Rivers, following the incident Monday night in which multiple Rockets players entered the Clippers locker room:
“We’re honoring Martin Luther King Day. We’re non-violent. ... Let’s put it like this: our team was in our locker room. That’s all I’ll say. I’ll let you do the rest of the investigation. I will say their entire team was not in their locker room. You’re going to have to figure it out from there.”
NBA RANKINGS
Top 10: 1. Golden State Warriors, 2. Toronto Raptors, 3. Boston Celtics, 4. Houston Rockets, 5. San Antonio Spurs, 6. Minnesota Timberwolves, 7. Oklahoma City Thunder, 8. Miami Heat, 9. Cleveland Cavaliers, 10. Los Angeles Clippers.
Middle 10: 11. Washington Wizards, 12. Portland Trail Blazers, 13. Philadelphia 76ers, 14. New Orleans Pelicans, 15. Indiana Pacers, 16. Milwaukee Bucks, 17. Denver Nuggets, 18. Detroit Pistons, 19. Charlotte Hornets, 20. New York Knicks.
Bottom 10: 21. Utah Jazz, 22. Phoenix Suns, 23. Chicago Bulls, 24. Memphis Grizzlies, 25. Los Angeles Lakers, 26. Brooklyn Nets, 27. Dallas Mavericks, 28. Atlanta Hawks, 29. Orlando Magic, 30. Sacramento Kings.
ONE MAN'S OPINION
I'm not a doctor, but I do spend a lot of time around the Bucks.
I don't exactly know the diagnosis of what is wrong with Antetokounmpo's sore right knee or the science behind how to treat it outside of what I have heard and reported. But the situation is this — if Antetokounmpo is going to be available to play without a minutes restriction, he's going to have to miss some games.
No one I have talked to, including Antetokounmpo, believes his league-leading 37.4 minutes per game is a cause for concern. In each of the past two seasons, he's played over 35 minutes per game in at least 80 contests a year, and in those games he's generally been fantastic.
It seems that what happens outside the games is of the utmost importance. He needs recovery time, prescribed treatment and sometimes it's deemed most prudent for him to miss games. None of that is anything new in how NBA players, especially stars, are handled.
Could Antetokounmpo play less to minimize his wear and tear? Certainly. Would that definitively make the situation with his knee different or such that he wouldn't have to miss four of the team's first 46 games? I don't know if that claim can be made with any certainty.
While Antetokounmpo's minutes have been high, it's clear to anyone that he is the most important person in the franchise. His skills make the Bucks' championship dreams possible, and Milwaukee's four-year, $100 million investment in him backs that up.
Thus, it wouldn't make any sense for the organization that values him so highly to put his well-being at risk. Surely the decision to allow him to play a high volume of minutes while resting at strategic junctures has been made with the utmost care and input from people at every level of the organization.
If that's not the case, the franchise would be guilty of gross incompetence and malpractice. The blame wouldn't fall on one person but on everyone in the team's apparatus who failed to protect its greatest asset.
But I don't think that's the case. I believe there's a plan in place that everyone is apprised of and comfortable with. As those here in Philadelphia say, "Trust the process."