Unlike the flu or fatigue, Milwaukee Bucks can't tough it out with knee injuries. Those heal in own time.

It was a little odd seeing Milwaukee Bucks guard Matthew Dellavedova dragging a sled around a basketball court. While his teammates worked on their shots and moves, Dellavedova had the sled loaded with a stack of big weightlifting plates.

He looked strong and had practiced the day before. But Dellavedova, out since Nov. 15 with tendinitis in his left knee, still didn't make the trip to New Orleans on Wednesday. It was his 12th missed game.

His rehabilitation with the sled helps strengthen the muscles that support his knee and aide his return.

Knee injuries are an  issue for three players on the Bucks: Dellavedova, Tony Snell (left knee patella tendinitis) and Mirza Teletovic (left knee cartilage repair).

Even though their rehabs are being monitored by a good training staff and the advancements in medical procedures is better, knee injuries are tricky. These kinds of injuries deal with inflammation of tendons, the cords that attach bones to muscle, and can take time to heal on their own.

“I’ve got to listen to my body,” Snell said. “It sucks watching. We’re playing really good basketball right now, and I want to be out there."

Snell tried to return to the court quickly. Like battling the flu or pushing past fatigue, he would just fight through whatever was going on with his knee. He would do his best to ignore the pain, swelling and the fact that he couldn’t bend it properly in recent games.

“I tried to tough it out,” Snell said. “But it got worse and I felt like it kind of messed up my performance. I really had to say something then.”

Knee injuries can be preventable but not always avoidable. Snell said his injury was wear and tear. Teletovic thinks pieces of cartilage came off years ago and finally just got to a point where he had to deal with it.

Players credit the Bucks training staff with getting them back on the path to recovery as efficiently as possible.

“Great staff - they’re amazing,” Snell agreed.

The Bucks generally do not allow their training and medical staff to field questions from the media, said a member of the public relations staff.

But the whole injury experience has made an impression on Snell and Teletovic in that they expect to do these knee strengthening exercises long after they’ve healed and returned to playing.

“I have to take care of my body, especially as I get a little older,” Snell said.

They (the injured club) start at 9 a.m., including Jason Terry (calf) and Jabari Parker (ACL), and work with trainers until 12:30 p.m. or later.

They all pull the weighted sleds, do balance work on the BOSU ball, leg extensions for the quadriceps muscles, as well as glutes, hips, hamstrings, calves to help the knee.

This week Snell ran at half his body weight on the AlterG antigravity treadmill, a great way to test the knee at full speed without the risk of running on his full body weight. Snell said on Tuesday he felt good but had to continue to be patient.

“I’m working on my quad strength,” Snell said. “And my IT band and my hamstrings. My IT band was really bad. I got to get it right – and my calves too.”

Bucks coach Jason Kidd meets with the training staff every morning to get a progress report, and also follows the day-to-day plan for every guy who’s rehabilitating.

“For example, with Giannis we’ve got a month planned out of what his schedule is,” said Kidd, referring to Antetokounmpo, who has been dealing right knee soreness since the summer.

Kidd said it’s the medical staff – not the coaches – who decides what players are ready to return and when.

“We have a great relationship – it’s all about communication,” Kidd said. “If you ask them, I’m not upset if someone’s out. That’s the nature of the business.

“It’s about when can the person come back to play at a high level.”