Antetokounmpo nets 29 in return, closes with windmill dunk

CHICAGO — Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 29 points in his return from an eight-game absence Saturday night, punctuating a 112-103 victory over the Chicago Bulls with a windmill dunk at the final buzzer.

Antetokounmpo’s dunk with two seconds left and the game out of reach led to both benches emptying at the end of the game as several Bulls players objected to his actions. But the Milwaukee star said after the game that he wanted to send a message of urgency to his teammates.

“We’re 11th in the East,” Antetokounmpo said after the win. “You have to continue to find an identity. And if it’s going to get a little disjointed at the end, so be it. We’re not champions. Why should we play against the clock and show respect and fair play? We’re fighting for our lives right now.”

Antetokounmpo, out since Dec. 3 with a right calf strain, went 10 of 15 from the field and played 25 minutes as the Bucks aim to easily return to action.

Milwaukee went 2-6 in the eight games without Antetokounmpo, and even with Saturday’s win, the Bucks were still in 11th place in the Eastern Conference with a 13-19 record.

“It’s really tough,” Antetokounmpo said. “I’ve been in the league 13 years. If we keep losing, probably half the team won’t be here. We’re not going to make the playoffs. “I don’t really care. At the end of the day, I just want to be available, be healthy and help my team win. What if [a windmill dunk] This is what needs to happen for everyone to wake up and understand, we’re fighting for our lives and we need to get our hands dirty, so be it.”

Several Chicago Bulls players took issue with Antetokounmpo’s dunk.

“He shouldn’t have dunk the ball,” Bulls guard Coby White said after the team ended a five-game winning streak. “It’s disrespectful to the game. I said, ‘Brother, you’re better than that.’ The game is over. Why do you have to do this? It’s a question of respect.”

Antetokounmpo was playing in just his 18th game of the season Saturday after missing three weeks with an injury he called a soleus strain earlier this month, the same injury that kept him out of the 2024 playoffs. Combined with a groin injury that sidelined him in November, Antetokounmpo said he was happy to be back on the court and healthy.

“It’s something I haven’t been able to do for 26 days,” he said. “But not just 26 days, because before that I had my groin injury, which was 15 to 17 days longer. So it’s probably been a month and a half since I really played the way I wanted to. And I’m happy to take it day by day. We have another one in two days. Try to stay healthy, try to be available for my team.”

The Bucks needed a healthy Antetokounmpo operating on all cylinders to have any chance of winning this season. Milwaukee is 10-8 when he plays and 3-11 when he is away.

“Addition of a top-75 [all-time] and one, three or five best players in the world on your team, it completely changes your dynamic,” Bucks forward Bobby Portis said after the game. “Just putting him back in the fold, it kind of made it easier for us to hoop. Guys in the right spots, you knew where your shots were going to come from. It made basketball really easy and everyone’s energy was in the right place. »