Giannis avoids catastrophic injury on Tuesday night. Could be ready by the playoffs.

Live look at me last night as I went to bed not knowing if Giannis suffered a season ending non-contact injury during the Celtics game:

WHEW! Here was what caused Bucks fans across the state to stop breathing last night (and what also caused ‘soleus muscle’ to be the most googled word in Wisconsin):

NOT GREAT. Non-contact injury to a leg that he’s had Achilles and hamstring issues with for the last month. And of course, OF COURSE, this would happen during a game where they actually looked good for the first time in almost two weeks. Not to mention we’re knocking on the door of the playoffs and any significant injury not only ends his season but the Bucks season as well.

Well, those Wolverine healing powers look like they struck again! He avoids a major injury, and now we wait to see how quickly he can get this calf situation straightened out. The Bucks have three regular season games left (he’s not going to play in any of those), and then we’ve got another half of a week for the Play In Tournament to play out. The Bucks will play the first game of their first round matchup on either April 20th or April 21st, so Giannis is going to have around 2 weeks to do nothing but rehab. We once saw his leg bend backwards in an ECF game and he was back for Game 1 of the Finals six days later. It’s probably unfair for us to expect him to just overcome everything all of the time, but I have no choice but to expect that exact thing to happen again.

Now if his recovery time does take longer, and spills into the first round of the playoffs, what could that mean. Well, I think it depends on matchup. Currently the Bucks are the 2 seed, and if that holds, it feels pretty likely they’re going to get the Sixers in round 1. Not ideal. Embiid just came back from a long absence due to injury, and the Sixers have been cooking since he returned. With Embiid, that Sixers team is more like a 2/3 seed, not a 7 or 8 seed. If that’s the matchup, the Bucks are going to need Giannis in every game. The same probably goes for another potential first round matchup with the Heat. If the Bucks fall to the 3 seed and play the Pacers? They could survive without him for the first few games (even though they lost 4 of 5 against the Pacers in the regular season). If the Bucks fall to the 4 seed* and play the Magic or Cavs, I actually think they could survive if he had to sit out the entire series.

^Disclaimer: All of those hypotheticals are hitched to the idea that the Bucks play the way they played last night against the Celtics, and not the way they played last week when they lost to 3 G-Leauge teams that have been actively trying to lose games. I’m not sure how much the Celtics really cared/were trying last night, but the Bucks needed that win. Doc Rivers has been much maligned lately (rightfully so), but his decision to put Pat Bev in the starting 5 was genius. He scored 20 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and brought the energy and intensity that unit has been missing lately. I assume he will stay in that role goign forward.

But overall, the Bucks dodge a big time bullet with the Giannis news this morning. I honestly have no idea what to expect from this team in the playoffs given how the season has gone, but they weren’t going ANYWHERE without Giannis.

*Generally speaking, I find NBA playoff ‘best matchup’ hunting by fan bases to be a little much. If your team is going to win a title, they’re going to have to beat really good teams. That said, the Bucks falling to the 4 seed is the ideal scenario. They would likely play the Cavs which isn’t a bad matchup, and you avoid the Heat and Sixers in round 1. That would mean they would have to play the Celtics in round 2 instead of the Conference Finals, but again, they’re going to have to beat the Celtics either way. Doesn’t matter if its the second round or third round, so may as well get after it in round 2.

PS: I love, LOVE, the way games are being officiated right now in the NBA. In the last month it’s been clear that they are allowing defenses to play physical again. Scoring has been down, but the games have been much more fun to watch. That culminated last night when the Bucks and Celtics combined for TWO free throws. Two! The Celtics did not attempt a free throw. First time that’s happened in NBA history, and the two combined free throws is the lowest in NBA history. Let the boys play!

Double PS: I can’t tell you how nice it is to be married to a doctor when things like last night happen. Me to Lindsey the second Giannis went down: ‘HOW LONG IS HE GOING TO BE OUT????’ You get all of the scenarios and timetables. Puts your mind at ease a bit.