Giannis Antetokounmpo suffered a knee injury as the Milwaukee Bucks slumped to a series-leveling defeat against the Atlanta Hawks in their NBA Eastern Conference finals clash on Tuesday.An all-round offensive effort from the Hawks secured a 110-88 victory at the State Farm Arena to square the best-of-seven series at 2-2.The updated #NBAPlayoffs bracket after the @ATLHawks tie the #NBAECF presented by AT&T at 2-2!WEDNESDAY on ESPN ⤵️9 PM ET: PHX@LAC (Suns lead 3-2) pic.twitter.com/I8fxVELPWo— NBA (@NBA) June 30, 2021 Lou Williams, starting in place of the injured Trae Young, led the scoring with 21 points for Atlanta while Bogdan Bogdanovic had 20 points. Six Atlanta players finished in double digits.Jrue Holiday led the Bucks scorers with 19 points while Khris Middleton finished with 16 points.But the main talking point from a comprehensive Atlanta victory was the injury to Antetokounmpo in the third quarter.OMG This is SHOCKING. I hope it’s not season ending. #NBAECF now 2 to 2. Great win for @ATLHawks without @TheTraeYoung so we will see. This is a fun series to watch @NBA #NBAPlayoffs2021 #NBATwitter https://t.co/BuYGcOPLUA— TheJman1980 (@thejman1980) June 30, 2021 The two-time NBA Most Valuable Player collapsed to the court in agony after landing awkwardly following a tussle near the basket with Clint Capela.Replays showed Antetokounmpo’s left knee buckle and a hushed silence descended as the 26-year-old Greek star received treatment on the court.He was later led off the court and back to the locker room.He returned unassisted shortly afterwards before eventually being ruled out of the game with what the Bucks said was a hyper-extended left knee.This is crazy (h/t @CBSSportsHQ ) pic.twitter.com/A2rfCDb0ww— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) June 30, 2021 The incident appeared to rattle the Bucks, who trailed by 10 points 62-52 when the injury occurred.With Antetokounmpo off the court, the Hawks sought to ram home their advantage and surged into a 25-point lead at 87-62 by the end of the third quarter.The Hawks kept the throttle down in the fourth quarter, maintaining a comfortable lead to close out a convincing win.A somber Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer had no further information about Antetokounmpo, describing the injured star as “part of our soul, our fiber.”Budenholzer however backed his team to respond in game five on Thursday when the series heads back to Milwaukee while paying tribute to the Hawks all-round performance.CLINT CAPELA. HOW? 😱 pic.twitter.com/Oz0mzHPn9b— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) June 30, 2021 Atlanta had dominated from the outset, surging into an early 25-22 lead in the first quarter and then outscoring Milwaukee by 10 points in the second to lead 51-38 at the half.A miserable night for Antetokounmpo saw him once again struggle from the free throw line to the delight of a merciless Atlanta crowd.Hawks fans repeatedly counted down loudly in order to throw Antetokounmpo off his rhythm, and jeers rang out as the Bucks star aimed multiple airshots at the basket from the free throw line in the first half.NBA RESULTS – PlayOffsEastern Conference finalsAtlanta Hawks 110 – Milwaukee Bucks 88 (Series tied 2-2)© Agence France-Presse
