Nursing injuries, Antetokounmpo and Lillard look like themselves for the Bucks

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Bucks stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard were supposedly on minutes restrictions, but that wasn't evident from the box score.

Lillard scored 28 points in 38 minutes after missing Milwaukee's previous game with a hamstring injury, and Antetokounmpo had 23 points and 16 rebounds in 32 minutes during Sunday's 120-113 win over the Miami Heat.

Antetokoumpo had missed five games before the All-Star break and sat out the All-Star festivities with a left calf strain.

Coach Doc Rivers said he had a limit of 31 minutes for the two-time MVP, who slightly exceeded that total.

“If he trusted me he should have played me 36 minutes,” Antetokounmpo said with a smile. “He tried to get me out but he couldn’t. I don’t like to play with minutes restrictions. I don’t know how long this is going to go but hopefully I can get back to playing my regular minutes and my regular rotation so I can get my rhythm back.”

Antetokounmpo was limited to 19 minutes in Friday's win at Washington out of caution as well as foul trouble.

Lillard said he was exhausted after All-Star weekend and had been dealing with a hamstring issue before the break. He played against the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday before sitting out Friday.

“When you have that type of fatigue and a lingering injury and you get out there and try to jump out and just keep playing, something could go wrong,” Lillard said. “I played in the first game because I knew that was an important game. Then it was back-to-back and travel.”

The hamstring improved with two days of rest.

“I felt good and I wasn’t really concerned with any restrictions,” Lillard said. “I just went out there and played.”

Taurean Prince, who missed two games with a left ankle sprain, also returned Sunday, as did Gary Trent Jr., who is dealing with a left knee contusion.

Pat Connaughton is sidelined indefinitely with a left calf strain.

“He’s had this through his career,” Rivers said before the game. “Calf injuries are tough. It’s just not a good injury.”

Milwaukee's injury issues come with Bobby Portis Jr. serving a 25-game suspension after testing positive for the painkiller Tramadol, a violation of the league’s anti-drug program.

The Bucks' oldest player, Brook Lopez, who’s in his 17th season, has missed only one of 56 games.

“He’s like a clock and religious about his routine,” Rivers said of Lopez. “He takes this job serious. He’s a model of consistency.”

Rivers said the Bucks need to be cautious with Lopez, especially with Portis out of the lineup until nearly the end of the regular season.

“I worry a lot because he’s 37 and he had one stretch with Bobby out the last time where he logged a lot of minutes and you could see that it affected him,” Rivers said. “This time we’re not going to make the same mistake.”

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Milwaukee Bucks' Damian Lillard shoots past Miami Heat's Andrew Wiggins during the second half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Milwaukee Bucks' Damian Lillard drives past Miami Heat's Davion Mitchell during the second half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo is fouled by Miami Heat's Davion Mitchell during the second half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Milwaukee Bucks' Damian Lillard loses the ball in front of LA Clippers' Derrick Jones Jr. and Ivica Zubac during the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) adjusts his arm sleeve during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Washington Wizards, Friday, Feb. 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Lamar Jackson thought it was over. That the Baltimore Ravens' unwieldy season would end up in a familiar spot: the playoffs.

Then, rookie kicker Tyler Loop's potential game-winning field goal from 44 yards out drifted a little right. And then a little further right. And then a little further right still.

By the time it fluttered well wide of the goalposts, the playoffs were gone. So was Jackson's certainty after a 26-24 loss to Pittsburgh on Sunday night sent the Ravens into what could be a turbulent offseason.

“I'm definitely stunned, man,” Jackson said. “I thought we had it in the bag. ... I don't know what else we can do.”

Jackson, who never really seemed fully healthy during his eighth season as he battled one thing after another, did his part. The two-time NFL MVP passed for 238 yards and three touchdowns, including two long connections with Zay Flowers in the fourth quarter that put the Ravens (8-9) in front.

It just wasn't enough. Baltimore's defense, which played most of the second half without star safety Kyle Hamilton after Hamilton entered the concussion protocol, wilted against 42-year-old Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Rodgers passed for a season-high 294 yards, including a 26-yard flip to a wide-open Calvin Austin with 55 seconds to go after a defender slipped, symbolic of a season in which Baltimore's defense only occasionally found its form.

Still, the Ravens had a chance when Jackson found Isaiah Likely for a 28-yard gain on fourth down from midfield. A couple of snaps later, the 24-year-old Loop walked on to try to lift Baltimore to its third straight division title.

Instead, the rookie said he “mishit” it. Whatever it was, it never threatened to sneak between the goalposts.

“It’s disappointing,” Loop said.

Loop was talking about the game. He might as well have been talking about his team's season.

The Ravens began 1-5 as Jackson dealt with injuries and the defense struggled to get stops. Baltimore found a way to briefly tie the Steelers for first in late November, only to then split its next four games, including a home loss to Pittsburgh.

Still, when Jackson and the Ravens walked onto the Acrisure Stadium turf on Sunday night in the 272nd and final game of the NFL regular season, Baltimore was confident. The Ravens drilled Pittsburgh in the opening round of the playoffs a year ago behind the ever-churning legs of running back Derrick Henry.

When Henry ripped off a gain of 40-plus yards on the game's first offensive snap, it looked like it was going to be more of the same. While Henry did rush for 126 yards and joined Hall of Famer Barry Sanders as the only running backs in NFL history to have five 1,500-yard seasons, he was less effective in the second half.

Even that first run was telling of what night it was going to be, as an illegal block by wide receiver Zay Flowers cost Baltimore some field position. The Ravens ended up scoring on the drive anyway, thanks to a 38-yard fourth-down flip from Jackson to a wide-open Devontez Walker, but it started a pattern that was hard to shake as several steps forward were met with one step back on a night the Ravens finished with nine penalties for 78 yards.

“We were having a lot of penalties, which kept stopping drives," Jackson said. “But I'm proud of my guys because we kept overcoming. We kept overcoming adversity and situations like this. Divisional games (can) be like that sometimes.”

Particularly when the Steelers are on the other side of the line of scrimmage. Pittsburgh has won 10 of the last 13 meetings. And while a handful of them have been in late-season matchups with the Ravens already assured of reaching the playoffs, the reality is the Steelers have been able to regularly do something that most others have not: found a way to beat Jackson.

“It comes down to situations like this,” Jackson said. “Two-point conversion one year. Field goal another year. And again this year. Just got to find a way to get that win here.”

And figure out who is going to be around to help get it.

Head coach John Harbaugh's 18th season in Baltimore ended with the Ravens missing the playoffs for just the second time in eight years. Jackson turns 29 this week and is still one of the most electric players in the league.

Yet Harbaugh and Jackson have yet to find a way to have that breakthrough season that Harbaugh enjoyed with Joe Flacco in 2013 when the Ravens won the Super Bowl.

There was hope when the season began that the roadblocks that have long been in the franchise's way — Kansas City and Patrick Mahomes chief among them — would be gone.

While the Ravens did get their way in a sense — the Chiefs will watch the playoffs from afar for the first time in a decade after a nightmarish season of their own — it never all came together.

Jackson declined to endorse Harbaugh returning for a 19th season, saying the loss was still too fresh to zoom out on what it might mean for the franchise going forward.

Harbaugh, for his part, certainly seems up for running it back in the fall.

“I love these guys,” he said afterward. “I love these guys.”

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, right, hands the ball off to running back Derrick Henry (22) during the first half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh talks with an offical during the second half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)

Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Cameron Heyward, left, greets Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) after an NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Steelers safety Jabrill Peppers (40) reacts after Baltimore Ravens kicker Tyler Loop (33) missed a field goal attempt in the second half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)