MILWAUKEE —The Giannis Antetokounmpo saga took another twist Friday when the two-time MVP left the Milwaukee Bucks‘ 102-100 loss to the Denver Nuggets with 34 seconds remaining due to a right calf injury. Antetokounmpo will undergo an MRI Saturday and said that he expects to miss four to six weeks, which would keep him out until after the Feb. 5 trade deadline. An official timeline will be determined after he undergoes imaging. 

“I was feeling it the majority of the game, but did not want to stop playing. But at the end I could not move. I had to stop,” Antetokounmpo said. “For me to stop playing and not be able to move, it was extremely painful.”

Antetokounmpo missed over three weeks in December with a right soleus (calf muscle) strain, and was still on a minutes restriction for Friday’s contest. It’s unclear exactly when Antetokounmpo re-aggravated the injury, but he lacked his usual explosiveness throughout the night. Despite being limited physically, he finished with 22 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists on 4 of 8 from the field and 14 of 16 from the free throw line. 

The Bucks fell behind by as many as 23 early in the fourth quarter, but staged a furious comeback to cut the deficit to one in the final seconds. Antetokounmpo checked out with 34 seconds remaining, however, and did not return. 

“I didn’t like what my eyes were seeing, personally,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “Giannis was defiant about staying in. On that one play you could see him trying to run down the floor, I had had enough. I didn’t ask, I just took him out. He actually wanted to go back in. That was a no for me.”

Antetokounmpo has a history of calf injuries. In addition to the right calf strain that kept him out for three weeks earlier this season, he missed over two weeks (and sat out of the All-Star Game) last season due to a left calf strain. In addition, a left calf strain kept him out of the final week of the regular season and the playoffs in 2024. 

“I don’t think it looks great, personally,” Rivers said of Antetokounmpo’s latest injury. “This calf keeps coming up and it’s concerning. I’m not a doctor, but I’m smart enough to know that his calf keeps bothering him and there’s something that is there and it keeps happening, and that’s troublesome for all of us.”

Antetokounmpo was visibly frustrated at his locker after the game. 

“Probably the next steps will be go to MRI tomorrow, after the MRI they will tell me probably I popped something in my calf, or my soleus, something. They’ll probably give me a protocol of four to six weeks that I’ll be out. This is from my experience being around in the NBA,” Antetokounmpo said. “After that, I’m going to work my butt off to come back. That will probably be the end of February, beginning of March. Hopefully the team will be in a place that we can at least make the Play-In or the playoffs. Just take it day-by-day, try to get better.”

It remains to be seen how long Antetokounmpo will be sidelined, but an extended absence would be a major blow. Friday’s defeat was the sixth in the last eight games for the Bucks, who are now a season-worst eight games under .500. At 18-26, they are in 11th place in the Eastern Conference and 2.5 games behind the Atlanta Hawks for the final Play-In Tournament spot. 

The Bucks do not control their first-round pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, but they will receive the least favorable of their pick and the New Orleans Pelicans‘ pick. The Pelicans have the second-worst record in the league, which means it is possible for the Bucks to get a lottery selection. 

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An extended absence for Antetokounmpo would not only affect the Bucks’ playoff chances, but throw a major wrench into the trade deadline plans for the Bucks and numerous other teams. There has been plenty of speculation about Antetokounmpo’s future ahead of the Feb. 5 deadline, and Brian Windhorst reported earlier this week that “Giannis is the trade deadline … The entire league is watching Giannis.”

Limping and desperately trying to stretch out cramps in his arms and legs, Jannik Sinner had just gone down a break in the third set when the extreme heat rules saved him at the Australian Open.

Play was suspended for several minutes while the roof was closed on Rod Laver Arena on Saturday afternoon, and the two-time defending champion returned a revitalized man.

After seemingly being on the verge of an unlikely exit — one of his coaches, Darren Cahill, was urging the 24-year-old Italian to stick it out for a few more games — Sinner won five of the next six games to take the set against No. 85-ranked Eliot Spizzirri.

A 10-minute “cooling break” between the third and fourth sets followed — another allowance under the extreme heat policy — and Sinner returned for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 third-round victory that highlighted a dramatic contrast of intense light and shade.

“I struggled physically today. I got lucky with the heat rule,” Sinner said, agreeing that the cooler indoor conditions suited him much more than the energy-sapping heat of the first two sets. “As the time passed, I felt better and better.”

Reflecting on his state when he trailed 3-1 in the third set, after he had dropped as many service games in this match as he did in winning the 2025 tournament, the No. 2-seeded Sinner said he was just trying to survive until a longer break.

“It started with the legs. Got to the arms. I was cramping a bit all over,” he said. “This is the sport. This is an area I know I need to improve.

“Tennis is a very mental game. I tried to stay as calm as possible. I’m here to fight, to play every point the best possible way.”

Spizzirri, a 24-year-old American who was making his debut in the Australian Open main draw, had never won three consecutive matches on the elite tour. Yet, he converted six of his 16 breakpoint chances against Sinner. Nobody had taken more serves off the Italian here since his 2024 final against Daniil Medvedev.

In the second set, Sinner was given a rare time violation by umpire Fergus Murphy as he was preparing to serve. In a show of sportsmanship, Spizzirri intervened, approaching the umpire and saying he hadn’t been ready to receive.

The American had the crowd on his side until Sinner’s movement really became hampered.

But with the glare gone, the temperature easing across the third and fourth sets and the heat from the court plummeting, Sinner regained his confidence.

He’ll next play fellow Italian Luciano Darderi, who beat No. 15 Karen Khachanov 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Three Italian men advanced to the round of 16, with No. 5 Lorenzo Musetti beating Tomas Machac 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 in a match on John Cain Arena that also had to be briefly halted — in the fifth set — to close the roof.

No. 8 Ben Shelton beat Valentin Vacherot of Monaco, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (5) on Margaret Court Arena and was delighted the roof was closed even before he stepped on court.

“Having the roof here closed today just amplified the noise,” Shelton told the crowd. “If this roof was open today, I don’t know if I’d be able to go the distance.”

Telling the crowd to stay cool, he added: “I’m not done yet. I hope you guys come back in two days’ time because I’ve still got a lot to prove here.”

Play was suspended on outside courts for at least three hours in the mid-afternoon Saturday under the extreme heat rules at the Australian Open.

The temperature was around 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) when the extreme heat policy was invoked — the tournament’s heat scale hit a maximum of 5. The forecast was for a maximum temperature of 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

The night session on Rod Laver Arena featured 10-time champion Novak Djokovic as he continued his quest for a record 25th Grand Slam singles title. Djokovic plays Botic Van De Zandschulp in the first of the evening matches.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.