After suffering their worst loss of the season on Thursday, the Milwaukee Bucks (20-8) return to Fischer Forum for a game against the Utah Jazz (17-14) on Saturday night.
Giannis Antetokounmpo entered the night questionable with knee soreness, but coach Mike Budenhosler said during pregame media availability that Antetokounmpo would not play. He is joined by Khris Middleton, who was already sidelined with a sore knee.
“I think I would probably characterize it as we’re very hopeful it’s short-term,” Budenholzer said of Middleton’s injury. “Unless this takes some unusual turns, we’re hoping it’s fairly short. It obviously has some movement on both sides.”
Middleton has played in just seven games this year after struggling through surgery on his left wrist. He was knocked out of the opening round of the playoffs last year against the Chicago Bulls with a sprained MCL in his left knee; this pain is the other knee.
Budenholzer said Jrue Holiday, who has missed the last two games with an illness, is expected.
The Bucks are 3-1 without Antetokounmpo this season, including most recently in Charlotte when Middleton and Holiday were also out.
Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m
Joe Ingles will make his season debut on Monday
Budenholzer indicated that the program is indeed available to Joe Ingles for his Bucks debut on Monday in New Orleans. The 35-year-old signed with the Bucks as a free agent in the offseason and was not expected to return this soon after tearing his ACL in a Jan. 30 game last season with surgery in late February.
“You always just have to check the boxes, see how he feels after today, but he’s had a couple of 5-on-5 practices and we feel like we’re very confident that he’s ready.” , Budenholzer said before Saturday. game against Ingles’ former team, the Jazz. “I think he’s dying to go, ready to go. We’ll make sure he’s fine tomorrow, but the expectation is he’ll play on Monday.”
Ingles and teammates Thanasis Antetokounmpo and Jordan Nwora practiced against members of the Wisconsin Herd earlier Saturday, the final test before Ingles sees the floor. Budenholzer noted that Ingles brings a lot to the table in addition to offering a new dimension to the 3-point shooting range for a team that is only middling in that department in the NBA.
“In the NBA, whether it’s the beginning of the season or the middle of the season, you need guys who can hang with guys, talk to the other team a little bit, talk to the coaches a little bit,” Budenholzer said. “His voice and his energy and him integrating in the locker room and developing camaraderie and relationships before he’s on the court … I don’t think I’ve ever seen a guy do it the way he does without playing. Usually, this league, you have to go out on the court and play.”
Budenholzer also said he was impressed with Ingles’ passing game and believes Ingles can be a tough, active defender.
“I think we can create some lineups with him that are really long and really big,” Budenholzer said. “There are a lot of things that we think he brings as a basketball player that will benefit our team.”
For an injury that often takes a year to heal, Ingles is back within 10 months of surgery.
“If you believe in setting goals and things like that, this is when he expected and wanted to come back, and he put in the time and effort to make that goal happen,” Budenholzer said. “Our medical team is incredibly thorough and incredibly good, thrilled that he was able to put in the work and time and his body and knee were able to respond positively and he can get back to his original projection side.”
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