Youri Tielemans has identified what makes absent Belgium teammate Kevin De Bruyne such a "special player" ahead of their Euro 2020 quarterfinal against Italy on Friday.
Belgium head coach Roberto Martinez declared that Manchester City midfielder De Bruyne will miss the quarter after sustaining an ankle knock in their last-16 win over Portugal. De Bruyne was also absent from training on Wednesday.
De Bruyne, who missed Belgium's opening 3-0 win over Russia with a facial injury, has scored one goal and provided two assists during Euro 2020, helping the Red Devils win all four games, meaning Martinez has a difficult job replacing him.
"Kevin is a special player because in my opinion, he always makes the right decision, even if you think he misplaces a pass, it’s not," Tielemans said during a news conference ahead of the quarterfinals.
"Always does something in his mind, always makes the right decision, very efficient, has a lot of assists or goals, that helps our team a lot."
He added: "As a team we have to create more options on the ball, move more, and make the right choices.
"Maybe we were under pressure a little bit, second half against Portugal, they had a lot of offensive options on the pitch, made it difficult for us to get out of there, as a team we have to find those solutions."
De Bruyne was replaced early in the second half against Portugal due to injury, before Belgium survived a barrage of pressure, with the 2016 European champions ending with 23-6 shots.
Belgium, who finished third at the 2018 World Cup and lost in the quarters at the 2016 Euros, ground out the win in a sign of maturity according to Tielemans.
"We learnt lessons from 2018, we’re more realistic, we play nice football, certain matches we have a lot of possession, create chances," the Leicester City midfielder said.
"Like you saw against Portugal there’s moments you have to suffer as a team, you might not get many opportunities, you have to score them, that’s where we learned from Russia, to be efficient, decisive in the right moment, when we have an opportunity to score we remember that from 2018."
Forward Dries Mertens is one candidate to come into the Belgium XI to replace De Bruyne against Italy, having replaced him against Portugal.
Mertens plays his club football with Napoli in Serie A, and added that quarterfinal opponents Italy appeared full of confidence.
"I’ve seen they have a lot more confidence now, they’ve played many matches and won a lot without giving goals away," he said.
"It gives confidence, experienced players but also young players, the way they celebrate when they win, many people didn’t expect that, it gives them a lot of confidence."
The 34-year-old also added there was no thought about Euro 2020 being his or this generation of Belgian players' last chance to win a trophy.
"No, not really," he said. "We do need to be realistic, realise we’re here now, we have a chance, you don’t get chances with a national team to win, every two years you have one chance to win one trophy, its very little.
"We’ve been doing well for a few years now, this is a chance we need to take, we have great facilities, we have great staff, people who know where we want to go.
"Those are important moments, I believe in the future of the Belgium team. This is a chance we have to take."
LeBron James' days of representing his country in the Olympics likely are finished.
Jerry Colangelo, long-time USA Basketball managing director, told ESPN he does not expect the Los Angeles Lakers star to compete in the Games again.
James opted out of the upcoming Tokyo Olympics after skipping Rio five years ago.
He will be 39-years-old for the next Summer Games in Paris, and Colangelo said he does not expect the NBA legend to return to international duty.
"You know, Father Time takes its toll," Colangelo told ESPN on Wednesday. "If you're a human being, your body is built to go so long depending on what your sport is, and then it's a downhill situation.
"LeBron made choices these last couple of Olympics not to participate because he's got a lot of things going on in his life.
"So he put in his time, he made a contribution that is appreciated, but I think his time is over."
James previously helped Team USA to gold medals in the London and Beijing Olympics and bronze in Athens.
With James and numerous other NBA stars skipping the Games this summer, head coach Gregg Popovich's 12-player squad for Tokyo will feature only three returning Olympians: Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Kevin Love.
Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo will be listed as doubtful for Thursday's Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals series against the Atlanta Hawks.
The Bucks said an MRI exam performed Wednesday confirmed the initial diagnosis that Antetokounmpo sustained a hyperextended left knee in Milwaukee's 110-88 defeat on Tuesday that tied the series at 2-2.
Antetokounmpo landed awkwardly on his left leg with just over seven minutes remaining in the third quarter in Atlanta, where he jumped up to contest an alley-oop from John Collins to Clint Capela, but his knee buckled before hobbling to the locker room.
Antetokounmpo has started all 15 of Milwaukee's playoff games this season, averaging 28.2 points and an NBA-best 12.7 rebounds in 37.4 minutes per game.
Atlanta star Trae Young's status for Game 5 is unclear after he missed the previous contest with a bone bruise in his right foot, leaving open the possibility that the two transcendent players in the series could be absent for the pivotal game.
"It's not good," Bucks veteran P.J. Tucker told reporters after Tuesday's game. "But this is the Eastern Conference Finals. There is no excuse. It doesn't matter whoever is playing, not playing.
"They've got guys hurt. Everybody is hurt. Everybody is banged up. Everybody is injured. You've got to fight through it."
Andy Murray reveled in a raucous Centre Court atmosphere after he fought back to keep himself in Wimbledon contention.
Murray had to defy the odds once more to overcome qualifier Oscar Otte 6-3 4-6 4-6 6-4 6-2 in a thrilling contest which lasted almost four hours.
Having led by a set and a break, Murray squandered his advantage to Wimbledon debutant Otte, who capitalised on the Scot's slip ups to take a 2-1 lead by the time bad light forced the players off.
But the break did Murray the world of good, with the former world number one winning seven of the next nine games with the full backing of a thoroughly one-sided crowd under the closed roof.
The 34-year-old was leaping in joy and punching the air when he held off Otte to hold serve and take a 5-2 lead in the deciding set, before he sealed the win with a deft lob shot to prove he still has the quality to go with his spirit.
"I enjoyed the end! The middle part, not so much! What an atmosphere to play in at the end. The whole crowd was amazing but there was a few guys in there getting me fired up," a thrilled, yet drained, Murray told BBC Sport.
"I needed everyone's help tonight, they did a great job. I hit some great shots at the end to finish it but it was a tough match."
Murray's battle with Otte came just two days after a similarly tough contest against Nikoloz Basilashvili, and despite starting Wednesday's second-round tie well, the two-time Wimbledon champion knows he almost let the match slip away.
"I had to do something differently and started going for my shots more, dictating more of my points, I was being a little bit negative," Murray said when asked if the break in play helped him recover.
"Because of the lack of matches, in the important moments I didn't make the right decision a lot of the time but I think I played the right way in the last couple of sets. The first set and a half was really good but there was just bits in the middle I'd like to change.
"Obviously tired, I fell over a couple of times, they're pretty slick courts but considering everything I feel all right, hips feel pretty good, I get a rest day tomorrow and hopefully will come out on Friday and play in another atmosphere like this and perform well."
Murray has already accumulated over seven hours of time on court over his first two matches, and he now faces 10th seed Denis Shapovalov, who was handed a walkover on Wednesday due to Pablo Andujar's rib injury.
Bahrain's Salwa Eid Nasser, the 2019 400m world champion, will miss this summer's Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, as she has been banned for two years after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) today partially upheld the decision issued by the World Athletics Disciplinary Tribunal on October 14, 2020.
The ban takes effect today.
However, her results from the 2019 World Championships in Doha will remain.
“Ms Salwa Eid Naser is sanctioned with a period of ineligibility of two years, commencing on the date of notification of this award, with credit given for the period of provisional suspension already served between 4 June 2020 and 14 October 2020,” CAS said.
“All competitive results obtained by Ms Salwa Eid Naser from November 25, 2019, through to the date of notification of this award shall be disqualified, with all of the resulting consequences, including forfeiture of any medals, titles, ranking points and prize and appearance money.”
She will also have to pay 5000 Swiss francs to World Athletics and to the World Anti-Doping Agency as a contribution towards their costs connection with these arbitration proceedings.”
In the wake of the ruling, the attorneys representing the athlete Dr Emir Crowne, Mr Matthew Gayle and Ms Kristie Irving have expressed concern about a part of the CAS ruling which can have serious implications for athletes. "A majority of the panel says it is okay for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to re-characterize charges in the middle of an appeal. So, the majority of the panel said WADA can re-characterize a missed test as a filing failure if they want to. With all due respect to the majority of the panel, that can't be right. That cannot be a fair principle in any court system," Dr Crowne told Sportsmax.TV this morning.
The Nigerian-born 400m runner was charged with four alleged whereabouts failures by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) in June 2020. These included filing failures on March 16, 2019, and three missed tests on March 12 and April 12 as well as January 24, 2020.
However, the World Athletics Disciplinary Tribunal ruled the alleged violation in April 2019 should not stand which meant Naser had not missed three tests.
Naser won the world title in a time of 48.14, the third-fastest time in history defeating Shanuae-Miller Uibo who ran a lifetime best of 48.37 and Shericka Jackson who also clocked a personal best of 49.47 for third.
Fifth seed Bianca Andreescu made an early exit from Wimbledon as she suffered a first-round defeat to Alize Cornet.
Two weeks on from losing to the same opponent on grass in Berlin, Andreescu suffered another straight-sets disappointment, going down 6-2 6-1.
The Canadian boasted a better first serve percentage (73 to 63) and hit more winners (17 to 11) but paid for a high unforced errors count (34 to seven) as she crashed out.
Andreescu's defeat extends a frustrating period since winning the US Open two years ago.
The 21-year-old, who recently split with long-time coach Sylvain Bruneau, has seen her career limited by a combination of injuries and the break enforced by the coronavirus pandemic.
As for Cornet, her Wimbledon campaign will continue with a second-round clash against either Greet Minnen or Ajla Tomljanovic.
The Frenchwoman is aiming to improve on the career-best run that saw her reach the fourth round at SW19 in 2014.
Oleksandr Zinchenko says Ukraine must find a way to stop the "amazing" Raheem Sterling but they should not fear facing England in a Euro 2020 quarter-final on Saturday.
Ukraine beat Sweden 2-1 after extra time at Hampden Park on Tuesday courtesy of a last-gasp winner from Artem Dovbyk.
Andriy Shevchenko's side travel to Rome to face the Three Lions at the Stadio Olimpico, with Gareth Southgate's side having beaten Germany 2-0 at Wembley.
Sterling opened the scoring for England with his third goal of the tournament before Harry Kane sealed the victory.
Zinchenko, who was on target in the win over Sweden, knows Ukraine will have to keep a close eye on his Manchester City team-mate in the Eternal City.
"Raheem Sterling is one of the best wingers in the world. Right now he is in amazing form," said the full-back.
"He is great, he makes the difference. We obviously need to pay attention to him and we will need to try to somehow stop him because he’s on a roll now.
"Who is the strongest opponent that I have ever played? I have said several times that it's the footballers from Manchester City, those that I see every day at training."
England are the only team in the tournament who have not conceded a goal but Zinchenko says Ukraine should be motivated by the challenge of breaching their resolute defence.
"It is really difficult to score against England, they are really well organised," said Zinchenko.
"They have a really good set of footballers and the substitute bench probably costs [the same] as three Ukrainian teams.
"This shouldn't be really scary for us, this should motivate us. We need to give ourselves the highest aims, the highest goals, and I am sure that the coaching team will get the strategy for us.
"I sense myself that everything is possible in this life and we will do everything we can for it. I've watched pretty much all the games that England have played, except today because we were getting ready for our game.
"The first thing that I noticed is I know quite a lot of those players personally because I see them in the Premier League."
Thomas Muller has expressed the pain he is suffering after missing a golden opportunity in Germany's 2-0 Euro 2020 defeat to England.
Muller fired wide with only Jordan Pickford to beat when Joachim Low's side were 1-0 down with nine minutes to go in the round of 16 tie at Wembley on Tuesday.
The Bayern Munich forward had his head in his hands after that costly miss with time running out for Germany to stay in the tournament.
Harry Kane doubled England's lead with a header five minutes later and Muller cut a deflated figure when he was substituted in stoppage time.
Muller failed to score in the tournament after being recalled from the international wilderness by Low, managing only one shot on target in four games and missing his only big chance.
The 31-year-old opened up on his miss in a social media post.
"There it was, that one moment that you will remember in the end, that brings you sleep at night. For whom you work, train and live as a footballer," he posted on Instagram.
"That moment when you have it in your own hands to bring your team back into a close knockout game and to send an entire football nation into ecstasy. To get this opportunity and then to leave it unused, it really hurts me.
"It hurts for the entire DFB team. My team-mates and our coach, who all gave me the confidence to be there right then.
"But above all, it hurts because of all the Germany fans out there who stood by us and supported us during this European Championship despite difficult omens. Thank you for your support."
Lou Williams says the Atlanta Hawks showed their strength in depth in the Game 4 rout of the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Hawks moved level at 2-2 in the Eastern Conference finals with a 110-88 win without Trae Young at State Farm Arena on Tuesday.
Young was ruled out after spraining his ankle when he stepped on a referee's ankle in Game 3.
Atlanta showed they can cope without 2020 All-Star Young on a painful evening for the Bucks, who lost Giannis Antetokounmpo when he suffered a hyperextended left knee.
Williams was charged with the task of replacing Young and top scored for the Hawks with 21 points and eight assists, while Bogdan Bogdanovic finished with 20 points.
Asked about being named as a starter, shooting guard Williams said: "It's not a big adjustment. You just know your minutes are going to go up, the time of the games is going to be different.
"Other than that, you just get ready to play a basketball game. We've got to be pros. I know it's cliche to hear, but one guy goes down, another guy got to step up."
Williams revealed there was no rousing speech from Hawks coach Nate McMillan when he was informed he would be starting.
"Honestly, I was on the training table, Nate walked up, said, 'Trae is going to be out, so I'm going to start you.' I said okay, and he walked off.
"That was the conversation. It's not like a 'Remember the Titans' thing that happens in the locker room. I promise you it don't. That was it. That was the extent of our conversation, and we got ready for the game."
McMillan is unsure if Young will return in Game 5 on Thursday.
"I don't know," McMillan said. "The report was just tonight he's out. He didn't feel comfortable enough to put pressure on his foot tonight. I'll get a report tomorrow, and I'm sure it'll be a game-time decision."
Comaneci, Korbut, Biles, Scherbo. Those names are as engrained into Olympic legend as Bolt, Beamon, Griffith-Joyner and Owens.
Gymnastics might pass under many radars outside Games time, but television chiefs have it down as a ratings-winning banker.
There is no other sport that combines quite the same level of athleticism, artistry and acrobatic magnificence, and pairs those factors with a stack of glamour and more than a hint of danger.
Most viewers of the Olympics will know how it feels to casually sprint 100 metres or swim a length or two, but the parallel bars, the pommel horse and the beam were typically last experienced as dreaded apparatus hauled out of school sports equipment vaults.
Anybody who avoided making a muggins of themselves deserved immediate respect, with these implements of humiliation ripe for dishing out a torturing.
On the Olympic stage, we see the human species at its most agile, yet vulnerable too, and that is why gymnastics has been the most viewed sport in the Games on American networks for many years.
Here, Stats Perform looks at three of the great Olympic gymnasts of the last 50 years, and considers who might emerge as a star at the Ariake venue in Tokyo this year.
GAMES GREATS
Nadia Comaneci: The Perfect 10
When Romanian Comaneci scored the first 'Perfect 10' in Olympic history at the Montreal Games of 1976, famously even the scoreboards were unprepared for her fabulous feat. They showed 1.00, with the Omega technology not built to display top marks. Comaneci was 14 years old, and she had made history on the uneven bars in the team competition. It was incredibly just the start of a run of 10s from Comaneci, who produced six more during her heady time in Canada, winning gold medals in the all-around event, the uneven bars and the balance beam.
Olga Korbut: Flipping brilliant
The young Comaneci would have watched Korbut dazzle at the 1972 Munich Olympics, where the 17-year-old brought daring new routines to the Games stage. Her backflip to catch on the uneven bars drew gasps from the crowd and media alike. Television footage from the time shows Korbut produce her mesmerising routine, with one commentator questioning: "Has that been done before by a girl?". His colleague responds: "Never, not by any human I know of!"
The Korbut flip was born, a backward somersault on the beam followed, and millions across the globe watched in astonishment at her audacity and execution. The teenager from the Soviet Union won gold medals in the team, floor and balance beam disciplines, pushing gymnastics to new heights.
Vitaly Scherbo: Barcelona bounty
It has often been the case that women gymnasts have attracted more admiration than the men, but in 1992 it was Scherbo who stole the show. The 20-year-old Belarusian was a colossus, winning six gold medals for the Unified Team of former Soviet states with a revelatory exhibition of physical strength, craft and control.
Scherbo became champion at the parallel bars, vault, rings, pommel horse, team event and the all-around event. His haul of golds has only ever been surpassed in a single Olympics by swimmers: Michael Phelps (eight gold medals at Beijing 2008) and Mark Spitz (seven golds at Munich).
TOKYO CALLING
Simone Biles: Great already, and now back for more
What does Biles have in store for a Tokyo encore to her spectacular Rio performance? It was well known before the 2016 Olympics was that Biles was rather special, and the American delivered on the biggest stage, with four gold medals and a solitary bronze, becoming the first quadruple Olympic gymnastic champion since 1984 when the great Romanian Ecaterina Szabo also achieved success on that scale. Biles, a formidable character and sensational competitor, is stretching the limits of athletic achievement every time she competes, taking her beloved sport to new audiences and inspiring generations of youngsters to try the sport.
Now 24 years old, Biles appears to be in great shape for more success in Japan, but watch out for her team-mate Suni Lee too. The 18-year-old outscored Biles on day two of the US Olympic trials
Tang Xijing: China's great hope
Could Chinese teenager Tang be in the picture to deny Biles the all-around title in Tokyo? The 18-year-old took a surprise silver behind Biles at the 2019 World Championship, and it remains to be seen whether that was a one-off or if she can limit the errors that have at times impeded her success and strike again for a medal.
She seems sure to be somewhere in the frame, but the Olympics demands perfection or at least somewhere close to it. Tang has abundant talent, and how she competes against the world's best again, after being limited lately to domestic competition, will be one of many matters of intrigue under the spotlight in the Ariake gymnastics hall.
Shohei Ohtani hit two home runs to seize the MLB lead, but the Los Angeles Angels still lost 11-5 to the New York Yankees.
After drilling the hardest-hit home run by an Angels player record by Statcast on Monday, two-way star Ohtani was at it again with a two-homer display at Yankee Stadium 24 hours later.
Ohtani homered in the third and fifth innings as he improved his season tally to 28 home runs, ahead of Toronto Blue Jays sensation Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
The Japanese star's performance on Tuesday drew praise from Yankees counterpart and slugger Aaron Judge, who said: "He's a generational talent.
"To see what he's doing this year is pretty impressive. It feels like any pitch that's over the plate is going to get hit. And it's going to get hit hard."
Ohtani (2021 and 2018) is only the third player with multiple 10-strikeout games and multiple two-homer games in a season since 1901 after Rick Wise (1971) and Jack Harshman (1958), according to Stats Perform.
Judge and Gary Sanchez both homered to help the slumping Yankees snap a four-game skid.
Marquez flirts with no-hitter
Colorado Rockies pitcher German Marquez flirted with history in the team's 8-0 rout of the Pittsburgh Pirates at Coors Field. Marquez threw eight hitless innings until Ka'ai Tom led off the ninth inning with a single into right field. Marquez completed a one-hitter, while striking out five batters. According to Stats Perform, he is the first pitcher to throw a Maddux while having two extra-base hits himself since pitches started being tracked in 1988 (A Maddux is a complete-game shutout with fewer than 100 pitches).
Robbie Ray tied Roger Clemens (1997) for the most strikeouts by a Blue Jays pitcher in the first 15 starts of a season after reaching 113 on Tuesday. Ray finished with 10 strikeouts, five hits, three runs and a homer in 6.0 innings as Toronto topped the Seattle Mariners 9-3.
World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers extended their winning streak to five games after defeating the high-flying San Francisco Giants 3-1. The Dodgers are now one and a half games adrift in the National League (NL) West.
Orioles get on top of Garcia
The Houston Astros were crushed 13-3 by the Baltimore Orioles. Robel Garcia was tagged for four runs on two-run homers in his first career pitching performance in the ninth inning. Ramon Urias and Austin Wynns homered off Garcia, who gave up five hits in 1.0 innings.
Schwarber stays hot
Kyler Schwarber celebrated his 12th homer in 10 games to help the Washington Nationals past the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3. Schwarber led off the first inning with a home run. He tied Albert Belle (1995) for the most homers over a 10-game span since at least 1901.
Tuesday's results
New York Yankees 11-5 Los Angeles Angels
Philadelphia Phillies 4-3 Miami Marlins
Washington Nationals 4-3 Tampa Bay Rays
Toronto Blue Jays 9-3 Seattle Mariners
Boston Red Sox 7-6 Kansas City Royals
San Diego Padres 5-4 Cincinnati Reds
New York Mets 4-3 Atlanta Braves
Baltimore Orioles 13-3 Houston Astros
Milwaukee Brewers 2-1 Chicago Cubs
Chicago White Sox 7-6 Minnesota Twins
St Louis Cardinals 3-2 Arizona Diamondbacks
Colorado Rockies 8-0 Pittsburgh Pirates
Texas Rangers 5-4 Oakland Athletics
Los Angeles Dodgers 3-1 San Francisco Giants
Detroit Tigers-Cleveland Indians (postponed)
Angels at Yankees
The Angels (38-41) and Yankees (41-38) will continue their battle at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday. Red-hot Ohtani will start on the mound for the Angels, while the Yankees counter with Domingo German.
Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer said the franchise are awaiting to discover the severity of Giannis Antetokounmpo's injury after the two-time NBA MVP hyperextended his knee in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Bucks' 110-88 loss to the Atlanta Hawks – who levelled the series at 2-2 despite the absence of Trae Young – was compounded by a knee injury to superstar Antetokounmpo on Tuesday.
Antetokounmpo (14 points) landed awkwardly on his left leg with just over seven minutes remaining in the third quarter in Atlanta, where he jumped up to contest an alley-oop from John Collins to Clint Capela, but his knee buckled before hobbling to the locker room.
The third-seeded Bucks – eyeing their first championship since 1971 – now face an anxious wait regarding the fitness of their best player heading into Thursday's Game 5 in Milwaukee.
"We'll see how he is tomorrow," Budenholzer said. "We'll take everything as it comes. We'll evaluate it. We've got a heck of a team, a heck of a roster."
"We'll take everything as it comes," Budenholzer continued. "We have a heck of a team, a heck of a roster. The guys will be ready to compete and play. That's what it's about. We got a Game 5."
Antetokounmpo has been averaging a career-high 29.2 points in the playoffs, along with 13.0 rebounds and 5.4 assists.
The 'Greek Freak' had averaged 28.1 points, 11.0 rebounds and a career best-tying 5.9 assists per game in the regular season.
Budenholzer added: "Obviously, Giannis is a big part of our soul, our fibre. I'm sure there is the human element, the concern, the care for him is real."
"It's not good," Bucks veteran P.J. Tucker told reporters. "But this is the Eastern Conference Finals. There is no excuse. It doesn't matter whoever is playing, not playing.
"They've got guys hurt. Everybody is hurt. Everybody is banged up. Everybody is injured. You've got to fight through it.
"It's not good losing anybody on your team. You lose your best player, it stinks."
Milwaukee had shot 50 per cent or better from the field in each of their last two games after not reaching that mark in any of their first 12 playoff games this year. The Bucks had won nine straight playoff games going back to 2018 when making at least half of their shots.
However, the Bucks were just 39.3 per cent from the field as Jrue Holiday (19 points) and Khris Middleton (16 points) were the only other players aside from Antetokounmpo to finish in double-digits.
Holiday's nine assists took his tally to 121 this postseason – the third most in franchise history behind Oscar Robertson (149 in 1974 and 124 in 1971) after eclipsing Sam Cassell (120 in 2001).
"They had a lot of guys play well tonight, for really the whole game," Budenholzer said. "Credit to Atlanta. They played well from the start. They played well coming off the [Trae Young] injury.
"We've got to be better on both ends. Our group will gather. The character of our group will come through. We are going home. It's 2-2. We are going back to Milwaukee."
Giannis Antetokounmpo suffered a hyperextended left knee in the Milwaukee Bucks' 110-88 Game 4 loss as the Atlanta Hawks levelled the Eastern Conference Finals.
Antetokounmpo (14 points) landed awkwardly on his left leg with just over seven minutes remaining in the third quarter in Atlanta on Tuesday.
The two-time NBA MVP jumped up to contest an alley-oop from John Collins and Clint Capela, but his knee buckled before hobbling to the locker room, with the Bucks trailing 62-52.
Atlanta – already missing star guard Trae Young due to a bone bruise in his foot – made the most of Antetokounmpo's absence as they levelled the series at 2-2.
Young was ruled out of the clash after suffering the freak injury when he stepped on referee Sean Wright's foot in Game 3 at State Farm Arena.
But the Hawks showed they are more than a one-man team as Lou Williams and Bogdan Bogdanovic starred at home to the third-seeded Bucks.
Williams was efficient with 21 points on seven-for-nine shooting in his first ever playoff start as Bogdanovic added 20 points of his own.
The Hawks took control after outscoring the Bucks 26-16 in the second period and 36-24 in the third quarter.
Milwaukee had shot 50 per cent or better from the field in each of their last two games after not reaching that mark in any of their first 12 playoff games this year. The Bucks had won nine straight playoff games going back to 2018 when making at least half of their shots.
However, the Bucks were just 39.3 per cent from the field as Jrue Holiday (19 points) and Khris Middleton (16 points) were the only other players aside from Antetokounmpo to finish in double-digits.
Holiday's nine assists took his tally to 121 this postseason – the third most behind Oscar Robertson (149 in 1974 and 124 in 1971) after eclipsing Sam Cassell (120 in 2001).
Suns at Clippers
The Phoenix Suns have another chance to clinch their spot in the NBA Finals when they visit the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals on Wednesday. Fuelled by Paul George, the Clippers – trailing 3-2 – will look to force a Game 7.
Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid became just the second unanimous MVP in the 97-year history of the NHL award.
McDavid received each of the 100 first-place votes to join Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky (1981-82) as the only other unanimous winner of the Hart Trophy.
Oilers star McDavid beat Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche) and Auston Matthews (Toronto Maple Leafs) to his second MVP honour after being crowned the league's best in 2017.
McDavid posted a league-best 105 points (33 goals and 72 assists) – 21 more than next-closest player and team-mate Leon Draisaitl as the Oilers reached the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
The 24-year-old also topped the NHL for assists, power-play assists (28) and power-play points (37), while he recorded a league-leading 1.88 points per game – the most by a player since 1995-96.
"My team-mates are everything," McDavid said. "I really wouldn't be anywhere without them. … We had a special group this year, and obviously we didn't do what we wanted to do, but still so fun to be a part of and get Edmonton and the fans of Edmonton excited again for what's to come.
"Obviously not possible without [my team-mates] and so lucky to be part of a great group."
McDavid become the fifth player in NHL history to claim the award multiple times before his 25th birthday (age as of final day of regular season), after Gretzky (six), Bobby Orr (three), Gordie Howe (two) and Alex Ovechkin (two).
"Our team is just getting better as we go along here," added McDavid, who also won the Ted Lindsay Award as the most outstanding player in voting by the NHL Players' Association.
"We just had so many guys take the next step and I'm just a part of that. Obviously if we're all continuing to do that, we're going to go and do some special things in this league."
The Oilers are the first team with different Hart Trophy winners in consecutive seasons since the Boston Bruins in 1968-69 (Phil Esposito) and 1969-70 (Bobby Orr).
Meanwhile, Ryan Nugent-Hopkin signed an eight-year contract extension with the Oilers on Tuesday.
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