Is Giannis Antetokounmpo playing tonight against the Pistons? Latest injury update on Bucks star ahead of matchup (March 27, 2023)

Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks suffered a 129-106 blowout loss to the Denver Nuggets on Saturday, March 25. It was a tough matchup for the Bucks, who were playing on the second night of a road back-to-back following a win over Utah the previous day.

However, Milwaukee should have a very good opportunity to get back on track on Monday night versus the struggling Detroit Pistons. Antetokounmpo, who is dealing with knee soreness, is expected to suit up as the star forward is currently listed as probable to play.

Milwaukee (53-21, first in the East) enter Monday’s game just 1.5 games ahead of the second-seeded Boston Celtics (52-23) with eight games remaining. So every game will be critical for the Bucks’ chances of securing home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.

Meanwhile, Detroit (16-58, 15th in the East) enter Monday with the worst record in the entire league. The Pistons have lost five straight games.

As for their season series, Milwaukee are 3-0 versus Detroit this season.

Giannis Antetokounmpo on blowout loss to Denver

Milwaukee Bucks superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo

Following Saturday’s blowout loss to Denver, Giannis Antetokounmpo spoke about his disappointment with his team’s effort. Antetokounmpo highlighted the Bucks’ rough third quarter, where they were outscored by 15 points (34-19) after leading by three (66-63) at halftime.

“We've got to be better. We have eight games until the season is over, then we go to the playoffs. We have to be better,” Antetokounmpo said.

“At the end of the day, you’re not going to win all games. But I think the game did not pay us justice. I think it was a good game, it was a close game, but unfortunately in the third quarter, we weren’t able to knock down a shot.

“But it’s okay, it’s okay. We’ll learn from it and move on. It happened in the past. We just gotta figure out a way to be better next time, execute better, make more shots and put ourselves in a position to win games.”

Despite the loss, Antetokounmpo finished with 31 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four steals on 59.1% shooting. Meanwhile, Denver were led by superstar center Nikola Jokic, who finished with 31 points, six rebounds, 11 assists and one steal on 50.0% shooting.

Antetokounmpo and Jokic remain two of the three MVP frontrunners, alongside Philadelphia 76ers superstar center Joel Embiid. So in such a tightly contested MVP race, head-to-head matchups like these may be taken into consideration by awards' voters.

Antetokounmpo is averaging 31.1 points, 11.7 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.8 blocks per game on 55.0% shooting through 59 games. Jokic is averaging 24.9 ppg, 11.8 rpg, 9.9 apg, 1.3 spg and 0.6 bpg on 63.3% shooting through 66 games.