Is Giannis Antetokounmpo playing tonight? Injury report for Bucks vs Heat

Giannis Antetokounmpo suffered a back injury in Game 1. Here’s the latest on his availability for Game 2 against the Heat.

In Game 1 against the Miami Heat, Giannis Antetokounmpo drove at the rim, and Kevin Love stood in to take a charge. Antetokounmpo fell, hurting his back, and had to go back to the locker room twice in the game despite attempts to continue playing.

That, along with Ja Morant’s similar injury, had fans talking about banning the charge.

The Heat surprised with a Game 1 win and will be looking to take another upset victory so they can head back to Miami for games No. 3 and 4.

Here’s what we know about the availability of the Milwaukee Bucks‘ star leading up to Game 2.

Is Giannis playing tonight in Game 2 vs Heat?

Initially, there was reported optimism in the Bucks organization that Giannis Antetokounmpo would play in Game 2, but since that report on Monday, things have changed.

Now, though, the Bucks have listed Antetokounmpo as doubtful on the injury report. In addition, Wesley Matthews is officially out (H/T Eric Nehm).

Keeping Giannis as “doubtful” instead of “out” gives a little hope still to Bucks fans. He could ultimately still be activated for tonight’s game.

The only real hope here is that maybe the Bucks are playing mind games with the Heat, trying to deke them out on whether or not Giannis will play. That seems far-fetched, though, as Miami is going to prepare for every possibility.

We’ll keep you updated here if there are any changes to Giannis’s game-time availability.