MILWAUKEE -- Initially, Brandon Jennings feared the worst.
With 23.1 seconds left, Jennings came down on the foot of a Chicago defender while trying to make a play to keep his team alive in what turned out to be a 93-86 loss. The Bucks point guard was down, seemingly in severe pain. He didn't put any weight on his injured left ankle while two of his teammates helped him off the court.
The initial diagnosis is a sprain, but Jennings called it "light" and says he will play Monday when the Bucks travel to Chicago to take on the Bulls again.
"Nothing long," Jennings said. "It's not broke, so I'll be playing for sure the next game. It's really sore right now, so I'll just ice it up and get ready to go tomorrow (for practice)."
When it happened, Jennings wasn't so confident. He immediately thought back to when he fractured that same foot on Dec. 15, 2010 against San Antonio. Jennings played 30 minutes against the Jazz three days later but then had surgery that caused him to miss 19 games.
It's hard not to think of the worst-case scenario when no weight is being applied, but Bucks coach Scott Skiles says that's not always a bad sign.
"Sometimes, though initially you can't (put weight on it)," Skiles said. "A little bit of fear sets in and later you feel OK. We'll see. He has ice on it, and we'll see how he's feeling tomorrow."
Jennings has had quite a start to the season. Playing for a new contract, the point guard is averaging 17.5 points and 7.5 assists per game, as well as leading the NBA with 3.5 steals per game.
While Milwaukee lost its ninth straight game to Chicago, Jennings was having another stellar game before leaving with the injury. He scored a game-high 23 points with seven assists and five steals.
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