Giannis Antetokounmpo suffers injury, leaves game vs Cavs early with groin strain

Giannis Antetokounmpo left the Milwaukee Bucks’ game against the Cleveland Cavaliers early on Monday night after suffering a groin injury, raising immediate concern for the team and fans. Antetokounmpo started favoring his groin and limped up the court on defense before committing a foul, then made his way to the locker room with 3:03 left in the second quarter.


The Bucks ruled him out for the remainder of the game with Jericho Sims replacing Antetokounmpo at the start of the second half. Before the injury, Antetokounmpo delivered 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting, along with five rebounds and four assists in just 13 first-half minutes. According to ESPN, he had been in the midst of one of the strongest starts of his career, averaging 32.6 points on 63% shooting and 7.1 assists - all career highs - plus 11.3 rebounds through his first 12 games of the season.


This season, Antetokounmpo has appeared on the injury report often because of patellar tendinopathy, but he has rarely missed time and has continued to dominate for Milwaukee. According to Newsweek, he sat out only one game in October and then missed another recently against the Charlotte Hornets.

Despite being sidelined for the Nov. 12 matchup in Charlotte, he returned to play the next two games. His most recent outing was on Nov. 15 against the Los Angeles Lakers, where he logged 31 minutes, scoring 32 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.