One of the best matchups of the early NBA season will be a little less exciting. A pair of undefeated teams — the Toronto Raptors and Milwaukee Bucks — tipping off on a Monday night in October is about as spicy as early-season NBA basketball gets. In fact, it’s something that has simply never happened before.
Per @EliasSports: Tonight’s match up between the Bucks (6-0) and Raptors (6-0) will mark the first time in NBA history that two teams enter with a record of 6-0 or better. I’ll be covering the game for @ESPNNBA.
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) October 29, 2018
But the game will be missing two of the biggest stars on their respective rosters: reports on Monday afternoon indicated that the Raptors would sit Kawhi Leonard, and that Giannis Antetokounmpo will also not play for the Bucks.
Toronto is resting Kawhi Leonard for tonight's game against the Milwaukee Bucks.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 29, 2018
Leonard resting here isn’t that much of a surprise given how Toronto has handled his return to the court. The Raptors are playing it safe with Leonard early in the season, even if every NBA fan in the league wants to see him show up in big matchups. Leonard resting seems to be a maintenance day more than anything, but Antetokounmpo missing Monday’s game seems to be a bit more serious, as the Greek Freak was put in the league’s concussion protocol on Monday.
Giannis Antetokounmpo has been placed in NBA’s concussion protocol and will not play tonight against Toronto.
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) October 29, 2018
That move comes days after a scary fall against Orlando where he took an elbow to the head from Aaron Gordon in the first quarter on Saturday night. Antetokounmpo returned to the game, but afterwards he admitted having some memory problems. According to the Associated Press, Antetokounmpo told reporters after the game that he didn’t remember much and took some concussion tests but continued to play.
“I just got hit in the head,” Antetokounmpo said. “I tried to block the shot. I fell down. I don’t remember much after that. I have to be careful with that. We did some (concussion) tests in the second quarter and some additional tests in the third quarter.”
When asked what he remembered about the play, Antetokoumpo said he was “probably knocked out.”
“I just remember the hit. But I’m fine,” he said.
As it turns out, he’s not as fine as he’d hoped. Memory loss of any kind due to a blow to the head is dangerous and scary, and the Bucks probably should not have let him continue to play on Saturday night. They’re clearly being more cautious now, and they certainly have good reason to do so.
In any event, the Bucks-Raptors matchup might be a bit less exciting. But seeing Leonard and Antetokounmpo playing at full speed in the games that matter most — the postseason — is the reason for caution here. Fans may bemoan the loss of an early-season showdown, but there’s a long way to go here.
