Eric Bledsoe File Photo – Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images)
When Milwaukee Bucks point guard Eric Bledsoe left the court on October 9 with an injury, it was feared that he wouldn’t be ready to return for the start of the regular season.
At the time, it was believed that Bledsoe suffered an oblique injury, but instead, it was cracked cartilage in his rib cage.
After going through the majority of practice on Saturday, he followed that with a full practice on Tuesday. Now Bledsoe has been cleared to play and start the season opener against the Houston Rockets on Thursday night.
Bledsoe’s return means the Bucks are 100% healthy for the opener as Mike Budenholzer has his entire 15-player roster available. He’ll start Bledsoe, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez and newcomer Wes Matthews. Matthews takes over at the shooting guard spot after Malcolm Brogdon was traded to the Indiana Pacers in July.
That group hasn’t had a lot of time together in preseason games, but they’ve spent considerable time working together in practice. We’ll see how well that translates to regular season game action starting Thursday night.