Giannis Antetokounmpo ruled out Saturday vs. Cavaliers [UPDATE]

UPDATE: Giannis has been ruled out due to back spasms for Saturday’s game vs. the Cavaliers.

The Milwaukee Bucks have listed All-Star PF Giannis Antetokounmpo as questionable to play in Saturday’s game vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers due to a back injury on the 5:30 p.m. ET injury report. This is a very late addition to the report for such an important player, continue the trend for the 2020-21 season. So there’s a chance the Bucks will go ahead Saturday without the reigning two-time MVP.

With Giannis’ status in question, we could have a lot of value open up on the 7-game main slate. Khris Middleton ($7,700) would become a very strong overall play. Jrue Holiday ($6,600) also becomes viable in all formats. Both players may be chalky, so Bobby Portis ($5,400) will be interesting to target. He likely starts at PF in place of Giannis if he’s out. Donte DiVincenzo ($5,100) also picks up a nice boost.

The line on this game opened very high at -15.5 for the Bucks. That was this morning and now the line is down to -11 for Milwaukee. There’s still a chance Giannis is fine and ends up playing, so there’s some value in the Bucks at this number. The other side is the Cavaliers have been decent against the spread this season. If Giannis is out, Cleveland should keep things competitive as long as Collin Sexton plays. The O/U is 221.5 right now and that number could go down a bit. If Antetokounmpo sits, the under will be a strong play considering how often the Cavs hit the under.

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