Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard expects to play when Bucks and Pacers meet in Game 2
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Damian Lillard spent the last month recuperating from a health scare.
Now, the Milwaukee Bucks guard is ready to resume his quest for that elusive NBA title.
The nine-time All-Star told reporters that he expects to play Tuesday night when the Bucks visit the Indiana Pacers for Game 2 of their best-of-seven first-round playoff series. The Pacers won the first game 117-98 as Lillard continued to work his way back into game shape, rehabilitating following deep vein thrombosis in his right calf.
“I’m playing,” Lillard said after the team’s morning shootaround. “Not knowing if I was going to be able to come back this season, I was able to lift, which was good, I was able to keep my body strong. But it was weeks and weeks and weeks before they even allowed me to jump and do stuff on the court.”
Team officials later issued a social media post saying Lillard was available. He had been listed as questionable on Monday’s injury report.
The Pacers did not have a shootaround and won’t be available for interviews until later Tuesday.
Lillard hasn’t played since March 18 after initially being listed with right leg muscle soreness, then right calf soreness before finding out he had a blood-clotting disorder that typically keeps players out months because of the risks associated with it. Lillard made it back in weeks.
Questions continue to linger, though.
Lillard said he’s never tried to return so soon after missing so much time with an injury, and he’s unsure how his body will react to game conditions even though he said he’s not on a formal minutes restriction.
“It’s really just how I feel,” he said. “I’m going to be communicating with (coach) Doc (Rivers) how I’m feeling. There’s no real way to simulate being in an NBA game, let alone a playoff game. So I’m really going in with intentions to be out there with the team, and, you know, I’m going to give everything I’ve got.”
The Bucks certainly could use Lillard’s help — if he’s as effective as he was before the injury. Milwaukee was just 9 of 37 from 3-point range in Game 1, when four of its starters combined for a total of 14 points.
Lillard averaged 18.3 points, 9.3 assists and 5.5 rebounds while shooting 35.5% overall and 38.9% from 3-point range in four regular-season games against Indiana this season. In last year’s first-round series he averaged 31.3 points against the Pacers, who won the series 4-2.
Two-time league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo missed all six of those games with a a calf injury but scored 36 points and had 12 rebounds in Game 1.
He is looking forward to Lillard’s return.
“Happy for him, like that he’s healthy, he’s clear now, he’s able to come back and play basketball again,” Antetokounmpo said Saturday. “He is one of the best players still in the league. Hopefully, whenever he’s ready — I don’t know if that’s Game 5, Game 6, Game 4 — hopefully he can come back and elevate this team and help us win games.”
Lillard hopes he can, too. He’s just not sure what to expect.
“I wanted to get up and down the court a little more, do some bumping, get over some screens and let my body get used to it so I don’t go out there and hurt myself after not being out there for so long,” he said. “I don’t think it’s ever going to be perfect (timing). You miss that much time, then you come back into an intense environment. But I’ve got to go out there and break myself in and I think that’s better to do early in the series than later.”
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