The news was major for the Milwaukee Bucks and relatively minor for the Miami Heat on the injury front for the two teams ahead of Monday night’s Game 4 in their opening-round Eastern Conference playoff series at Kaseya Center.
Bucks All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo returned to the court Monday morning for the Bucks’ shootaround, the latest step in his recovery from the lower-back contusion sustained in the Heat’s Game 1 victory a week ago Sunday in Milwaukee.
The teams then split the two games in his absence, with the Heat taking a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series into Monday night.
Antetokounmpo had been slowly working his way back from the injury, doing individual work at Kaseya Center with Bucks coaches Sunday prior to his team’s video session.
The Heat went into Monday 3-0 this season at Kaseya Center in Bucks games that Antetokounmpo had missed, with the MVP finalist having missed both of Milwaukee’s games on the Heat court during the regular season.
“We’ve done the prep,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of the Antetokounmpo element. “We have great respect for him and what he can do.
“When you get to the playoffs you want everyone available. You want to beat teams when they are at their best.”
A subtle tweak on the Heat injury report had rookie big man Nikola Jovic back in the mix, after being sidelined since Dec. 28 due to back spasms. He formally was cleared two hours before Monday night’s game.
The Heat remain with guard Tyler Herro, who broke his hand in the first half of Game 1, and guard Victor Oladipo, who tore the patellar tendon in his left knee late in Saturday night’s Game 3 victory over the Bucks.
Heat forward Jimmy Butler, who took a hard fall in Game 3 that had him listed with a bruised glute, was available, as was Heat center Bam Adebayo, who had been listed with a strained left hamstring. Adebayo was not formally cleared until he completed his pregame workout.
For the first time in more than a month, Heat point guard Kyle Lowry was not listed on the Heat injury report, having been dealing with knee pain.
The Bucks remain without guard Wesley Matthews, who has been sidelined since Game 1 due to a strained right calf.
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