The last thing any team wants on opening night is an injury- let alone a concerning one. Unfortunately for the Milwaukee Bucks, that’s exactly how things unfolded. Their 130–120 win over the Washington Wizards was overshadowed by worry after both Kevin Porter Jr. and Giannis Antetokounmpo suffered setbacks. Following the game, head coach Doc Rivers quickly addressed the situation.

Rivers, when asked about Porter’s condition postgame. “No, it didn’t look good. I’ll just say that, you know,” the Bucks head coach said, hinting at concern as the team now awaits further testing. The first half in Milwaukee was largely uneventful until the closing minutes, when Kevin Porter Jr. went down awkwardly after a pushoff that led to him planting his foot awkwardly on his teammate Bobby Portis’ foot- resulting in the ankle twist.

He was helped to the locker room and later ruled out for the rest of the game. Early word pointed to a possible ankle sprain, though no official diagnosis was given immediately.

What he did say is that the doctors are looking into it. “So, he’s going to do an MRI tomorrow. Um, we just got to hope for the best, but looking at it, it was a pretty bad sprain.”

From the Rivers’ observation and because he was ruled out for the game, it could be a lot more serious for Porter. He was having a great game too. He played less than 10 minutes and managed 10 points on 3-for-5 shooting, including two triples, two assists, and a steal.

Even without Porter (and Damian Lillard), the Wizards were outmatched. But early season injuries are a disheartening look after the offseason they’ve had.

Kevin Porter Jr.’s role expected to be bigger in new look Bucks

Kevin Porter Jr. is no playmaker but he was expected to fill the void that Damian Lillard’s ouster left. But this is still Giannis’ team. He went 37 points this game, not very surprising from The Greek Freak. However, he had a minor setback too.

He was on the injury report earlier this week for lower back soreness. Antetokounmpo played through the discomfort though reporters asked Doc Rivers about a hand injury he suffered. “It’s fine. I think, you know, I didn’t notice it,” Doc said. So that’s a positive.

The 2x MVP could be seen sitting with a belt on the sidelines as he cheered on for his team. However, his back ailment didn’t affect his game- as he took this matchup to his heart, facing arguably his greatest teammate ever in Khris Middleton, now with the Wizards after getting traded mid-season last year.

So much so, that when he got fouled- a flagrant penalty one- he trash talked Middleton, saying “I love it, I love it.” pointing out to the Wizards’ rook who took down the Greek Freak.

Rivers came back to the KPJ problem and revealed that before the injury struck, he was impressed by the Clippers import. “He was playing great. Like, um, just his defensive pressure, um, couple steals, deflections, and then uh, just his half-court defense, him and our whole group led to us a ton of run-outs.”

However, the Milwaukee Bucks made a statement- one that even Giannis Antetokounmpo acknowledged when he said this revamped roster could “cause problems” for the rest of the league. Head coach Doc Rivers handed Kevin Porter Jr. the starting role as a secondary ball handler alongside Giannis, flanked by AJ Green, Gary Trent Jr., and Myles Turner. The decision to move Kyle Kuzma to the bench immediately strengthened Milwaukee’s depth, pairing him with Bobby Portis, a perennial Sixth Man of the Year candidate.

Perhaps the most underrated move of the offseason, though, was adding Cole Anthony. The young guard could be pivotal- both as a spark off the bench and as a potential fill-in starter if KPJ’s ankle issues resurface. Either way, Milwaukee’s mix of size, spacing, and secondary playmaking looks far more dynamic than it did a season ago.

Myles Turner, who terrorized the Bucks until last season, overpowered the inferior Wizards. But there’s little confidence in the team sustaining without a true point guard deeper into the season. Porter was seemingly making that difference in the offense. He’s needed to space the floor in a Giannis-centric play. That’s probably why Doc’s rightfully concerned about his injury.