Already down in their first-round series, the Milwaukee Bucks may have to go the rest of the way shorthanded.
Superstar guard Damian Lillard exited the Bucks’ Game 4 outing against the Indiana Pacers after suffering an apparent lower-body injury in the first quarter. The Bucks later ruled him out for the remainder of the game.
Though the team did not provide details to the nature of the injury, NBA insider Chris Haynes reported that there’s fear Lillard may have suffered a torn Achilles.
The seven-time all-NBA player was behind the 3-point line when the ball bounced toward him. Lillard used his left hand to tip the ball toward teammate Gary Trent Jr., then went down and grabbed the lower part of his left leg, around his ankle. He continued to sit on the floor as play resumed on the other end of the court.
After a foul stopped play, Milwaukee’s Kyle Kuzma helped Lillard up. Lillard then started limping and had to be helped off the court and into the locker room.He exited the game having tallied two rebounds and two assists in his six minutes.
Lillard only recently returned to the Bucks’ lineup after dealing with deep vein thrombosis (blood clots) in his right calf that kept him out for over a month.
He was taken off blood-thinning medication and cleared to resume full basketball activities at the end of the regular season, and he returned to action for Game 2 of this series on Tuesday.
The 34-year-old has struggled getting back up to speed against the Pacers, averaging 10.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists while shooting 24.0 per cent from the field and 18.8 per cent from three-point range over his two appearances going into Sunday.
In his second full season with the Bucks since being acquired in a trade ahead of the 2023-24 campaign, the nine-time All-Star averaged 24.9 points, 4.7 rebounds and 7.1 assists while shooting 44.8 per cent from the field and 37.6 per cent from deep.
The Bucks have endured all sorts of postseason injuries since winning a title in 2021.
Khris Middleton missed an entire seven-game Eastern Conference semifinal loss to Boston in 2022 with a sprained medial collateral ligament. Giannis Antetokounmpo bruised his lower back in Milwaukee’s first playoff game in 2023 and didn’t return until Game 4 of a first-round series it lost 4-1 to the Miami Heat. In the Bucks’ 4-2 first-round loss to Indiana last year, Antetokounmpo didn’t play at all because of a calf strain and Lillard missed two games with an Achilles injury.
The Bucks trailed this best-of-seven series 2-1 heading into Game 4.
— With files from the Associated Press
