Damian Lillard returned for the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 2, but his presence wasn’t enough to help the team beat the Indiana Pacers yesterday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. As a result, Milwaukee are down 0-2 heading into Game 3.
The nine-time NBA All-Star wasn’t supposed to return this postseason since he was diagnosed with a deep vein thrombosis in his right calf last month. But Lillard did it anyway since he was determined to help his team.
In the 123-115 defeat, Lillard notched 14 points, three rebounds, and seven assists on 4-for-13 shooting from the field in 37 minutes. After the game, he admitted he was a little “winded.”
“I got a little winded, but I think everyone got a little winded. I wasn’t really thinking about if I was tired, it was just like I’m out here and I’ve got to do what I got to do,” Lillard said via The Associated Press. “But it felt pretty good, given the fact that I haven’t played in so long. Jumping back into a playoff game, I’d say it felt pretty good. I felt pretty solid.”
Milwaukee Bucks News: Doc Rivers remains concerned with Damian Lillard’s fitness
The Milwaukee Bucks trailed against the Indiana Pacers for most of the night, and head coach Doc Rivers faced the dilemma of playing Damian Lillard more minutes than expected since the team needed a lift. Rivers did it anyway since he believes it’ll help with Lillard’s overall conditioning in the upcoming games.
“Down the stretch I just kept him in. I used it sort of as conditioning,” Rivers said. “He was exhausted and I saw that, and I thought, ‘Just let him blow it because we’ve got two days to recover.’ That’s basically why I kept him in.”
“The biggest question for us is the recovery,” he continued. “The trick is trying not to get him into that point of exhaustion because then it’s hard to come back. So that’s the trick we were doing tonight.”
