If it wasn’t playoffs, Giannis Antetokounmpo wouldn’t be taking the court and according to NBA Insider Shams Charania, he pushed his body to the absolute limit in Game 5 on Monday.
After the crushing 119-114 loss, reporters were obviously looking to speak to the Bucks’ best player but Antetokounmpo was no where to be found.
Charania has revealed the concerning reason as to why the star forward missed the postgame press conferences.
“He missed eight days with this injury he suffered on April 16th,” Charania said. “He’s clearly still dealing with this lower back issue, and he had to play over 38 minutes last night, and those are all reasons why I’m told post-game Giannis needed IV fluids in Miami. That was one of the reasons why he missed and why he was not able to do his media post-game in Miami last night after the loss.”
The two-time MVP still managed to play a huge 38 minutes while putting up 26 points, ten rebounds, 13 assists, a steal, two blocks on 12 from 22 shooting.
Unfortunately for the Bucks, Jimmy Butler had himself a historic game and recorded a massive 56 points, surpassing LeBron James for Miami’s single-game playoff scoring record.
Antetokounmpo will again have to push through if his team are any chance of making it to the next round because Miami now lead the series 3-1.
Wednesday’s April 26, Game 5 is in Milwaukee so hopefully the home crowd will serve as an advantage for the Bucks.