Antetokounmpo scores 29 for Bucks against Bulls after missing 8 games with calf strain

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CHICAGO (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo returned Saturday night from the right calf strain that kept the two-time MVP from playing in the Milwaukee Bucks’ previous eight games.

The two-time MVP scored a game-high 29 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 112-103 victory over the Chicago Bulls.

He blocked the Bulls’ first field-goal try and ended the game with a dunk to cap his first action since Dec. 3.

“In the past, when I was younger, I think the recovery process for me was way faster,” said Antetokounmpo, who turned 31 this month. “Now you’ve got to be patient with everything.

“I think I followed everything step by step.”

Antetokounmpo was in the starting lineup for the Bucks’ game against the Chicago Bulls, after the team originally listed him as questionable on the injury report.

“The goal is to stay healthy,” Antetokounmpo said, “and be available for the team and make the playoffs.”

Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers said before the game the nine-time All-Star won’t be thrown back into the grind right away.

“He’ll be on a minutes restriction,” Rivers said before the game. He played almost 25 minutes on Saturday night.

Antetokounmpo hasn’t played since injuring his calf less than three minutes into the Bucks’ 113-109 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Dec. 3. The injury came on Antetokounmpo’s fourth game back after a left adductor strain caused him to miss four games.

“Maybe it was a mistake of me coming back a little bit earlier, because once I come back, now you’re overcompensating,” Antetokounmpo said Dec. 18. “The only way you can pop your soleus is by overcompensating and then having an extreme amount of load or play a lot of games in a short period of time. Again, I think all of the things that I was thinking and trying to come back led to the incident that I had with my soleus.”

The Bucks went 2-6 in the eight games Antetokounmpo missed because of the calf issue. So far this season, the Bucks are 10-8 with Antetokounmpo and 3-11 without him.

Antetokounmpo has averaged 28.9 points, 10.1 rebounds and 6.1 assists this season.

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