The Milwaukee Bucks have gotten back into the thick of things in the Eastern Conference. After starting the NBA season 6-8, they have reeled off eight consecutive victories. They are now in third place in the conference and only 1.5 games behind the first-place Brooklyn Nets.
A big reason for the team’s turnaround has been the improving health. Khris Middleton has returned from being in the league’s health and safety protocols.
Jrue Holiday has gotten healthy after missing games earlier in the season. But, there has one player the team hadn’t been providing much of an update about; Brook Lopez.
Lopez, the Bucks’ starting center, played on opening night and we haven’t seen him back on the court since. At first, it was reported that he had some back soreness, but that normally doesn’t keep a player sidelined for weeks and months at a time.
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Today, we received some clarity on the situation and it was much worse than originally believed to be. Shams Charania shared that Lopez underwent back surgery and will be sidelined for an indefinite period of time.
Lopez was an integral part of the Milwaukee Bucks’ success en route to an NBA Championship last season. He worked relentlessly to become one of the best 3-point shooting big men in the NBA and had turned into a stalwart defensively. His rim protection as the anchor defensively and improvements on the perimeter were key to the team’s success on that end of the court.
With Brook Lopez sidelined, Bobby Portis will continue seeing a lot of minutes in the middle for Milwaukee. The team’s decision to sign DeMarcus Cousins earlier this week makes more sense now, as they needed depth at the center position not knowing when Lopez would be able to return to the court.
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Cousins will assuredly see his role grow as he gets acclimated to his new team. He will play a vital role off the bench with Portis now assuming the starting center role.
