Bucks guard Malcolm Brogdon expected to play Game 5 on a minutes restriction
One day after being listed out for Game 5 on the NBA’s official injury report, Milwaukee Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters on Wednesday that guard Malcolm Brogdon has been upgraded to probable and is expected to play.
Brogdon has not played since March 15, when he suffered a minor plantar fascia tear in his right foot six minutes into a game against the Miami Heat. The 26-year-old will come off the bench and be on a minutes restriction in Wednesday’s potential close-out game, Budenholzer said from shootaround in Milwaukee.
Brogdon was an integral part of the Bucks’ success during the regular season, averaging 15.6 points per game on 50.5/42.6/92.8 shooting splits in 64 starts for the best team in the NBA. Here is everybody else who joined the famed 50/40/90 club starting as many games as Brogdon in a single season: Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Dirk Nowitzki, Larry Bird, Steve Nash, Reggie Miller and Mark Price.
Brogdon is not quite on their level as perennial All-Stars and Hall of Famers, but he was the fourth-best player on a 60-win team. The Bucks have not even needed Brogdon in taking a 3-1 lead against the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals, and he may not be all that effective in Game 5, just as Boston’s Marcus Smart was not in Game 4 upon returning to the lineup from a torn oblique muscle.
Brogdon’s return is more likely an attempt to get him work in preparation for the conference finals, which is the harshest of realities for a Celtics team on the brink.
The Bucks started Sterling Brown in Brogdon’s stead for the first five games of the playoffs — a sweep of the Detroit Pistons and a Game 1 loss to Boston — before swapping stretch forward Nikola Mirotic into the fifth spot alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, Eric Bledsoe and Brook Lopez. Milwaukee is 3-0 with that lineup against the Celtics and is expected to start them again in Game 5.
– – – – – – –
Ben Rohrbach is a staff writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
More from Yahoo Sports:
