Kevin Porter Jr.’s injury “didn’t look good,” says Doc Rivers
The Milwaukee Bucks got off on the right foot in 2025-26 on Wednesday night, holding off a late run by the Washington Wizards for a 133-120 victory in front of its home fans.
This is a bit of a new look Bucks team around Giannis Antetokounmpo this season. Damian Lillard is gone after suffering an Achilles tear in the playoffs last season, and big man Miles Turner is here after signing with Milwaukee in free agency. Turner has terrorized the Bucks in multiple playoff series with the Indiana Pacers in the past, so they will be happy to have him with the Bucks.
The loss of Lillard leaves a hole in the backcourt for Milwaukee, and Doc Rivers and society they counted on Kevin Porter Jr. to fill some of that void. unfortunately, Porter left the season opener early after a sprained ankle and Rivers it didn’t sound too optimistic about it after the game, via Erik Nemo of Athletic.
“It didn’t look good, I’ll just say that,” Rivers said, per Nehm. “We just have to hope for the best. Looking at it, it was quite a sprain.”
The Bucks need Porter to be out there as someone who can score and space the floor for Antetokounmpo, especially with the shallow state of the guard room right now. He finished the night with 10 points on 3-for-5 shooting in just nine minutes before suffering an injury and leaving the game. Porter also drained two 3-pointers in the first game of the year.
The Bucks also removed AJ Green as their starting point guard for the game, and the Northern Iowa product finished with 11 points to go with Cole Anthony and Ryan Rollins who came off the bench but had ineffective shooting nights.
Even without Porter for most of the night, the Bucks still had enough to beat an inferior Wizards team on the back of Antetokounmpo. The Green Freak finished his 2025-26 season debut with 37 points and 14 rebounds on a hyper-efficient 16-for-26 shooting and appears to be well on his way to another MVP-caliber campaign. If he can get this Bucks team near the top of the Eastern Conference, he’ll be in line for the league’s top honors.
2025-10-23 03:45:00
