Giannis Antetokounmpo Is Making 'Progress' from Back Injury, Bucks' Budenholzer Says

Milwaukee Bucks star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo missed practice Tuesday while recovering from his back injury, but there's still a chance he's available to play Wednesday in Game 2 against the Miami Heat.

"We have 24-plus hours before game time," Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters. "He'll get treatment, we'll see how he feels. There's been a lot of progress and hopefully there's more in the next day or so."

Budenholzer said on Monday that Antetokounmpo underwent an MRI on his injured back that came back clean, which made the team "optimistic" about the star's chances to play Wednesday. He echoed those sentiments once again Tuesday.

"There's an optimism," Budenholzer said. "Time is a little bit on our side, but that equation will flip. But yeah, I would say we're optimistic."

However, the team officially listed Antetokounmpo as doubtful for Wednesday's game.

Antetokounmpo had suffered the injury in Sunday's Game 1 when he took a hard fall when Heat forward Kevin Love undercut him to draw a charge. He was forced to exit before the end of the first half as Milwaukee went on to lose 130-117.

The two-time NBA MVP is coming off another stellar season in which he averaged 31.1 points, 11.8 rebounds and 5.7 assists while shooting 55.3 percent from the field. He was named a finalist for this year's MVP award as well after leading Milwaukee to a league-best record of 58-24.

If Antetokounmpo were to miss time, the Bucks would undoubtedly miss his production. Milwaukee had an 11-8 record without him this season, so Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez would have to be ready to step up.