Milwaukee – Hash fell to the Fiso Services Forum mid-quarter of Game 4 between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Indiana Pacers. Damien Lillard sat on the three-point line, steady and mistrustful, returning from the calf blood clot that had been on his sidelines for over a month.
The ninth-in-time All-Star was chasing an offensive rebound from a missed three-pointer by Gary Trent Jr. On the next ball of death, Kyle Kuzma helped Lillard step in, but was unable to put weight on his left foot. Lillard went down the bench with the support of Bucks coach Doc Rivers and the team’s medical staff, leaning down the tunnel on Andre Jackson Jr.
Before the first half was over, the Bucks announced that Lillard would not return due to a “lower left leg injury.” Shortly afterwards, Chris Haynes reported that Lillard was terrified of suffering from a torn Achilles heel.
Rivers stretched his fatigue to the podium after the game, and Lillard said he would undergo an MRI on Monday, but admitted that the prognosis was “not very promising.” Lillard was on a crutch and wearing walking boots as he left the building.
When Lillard left, the Bucks were kicked out for just three, and their deficit increased to 11 by halftime. After the match, Rivers admitted that the team was contracted by the obvious severity of Lillard’s injury.
“We’ve seen injuries contract the team. It hurts tonight. We thought our guys tried it, but it was tough.” “Everyone is there at halftime in the training room. It’s really hard to talk to the team after that. My job over the next 40 hours is to win one game in Indiana and try to get back here.
By the time the locker room opened to the media, there were very few players left, and those who had been calm. They all felt Lillard, the ultimate teammate and one of the league’s most difficult workers. Pat Connaughton, who had known Lillard since his rookie season with the Portland Trail Blazers, traveled away from the bench mid game to check out Lillard.
“I didn’t talk much about it, I wanted him to know himself, his teammates, people who care about him.
None of the Bucks were ready to give up the series, but they understand the challenges they have at hand now.
“It’s very sad for him when the guy is back on the court and working as hard as he can to make those things happen,” said big man Bobby Portis. “It’s sad for us, it’s true. We need him to be there.”
Lillard was diagnosed with a blood clot in his right calf on March 25th, and at that point it seemed his season was over. However, his camp and his team expressed optimism that he could return at some point. And he did that against the Pacers in Game 2.
“It was a little scary,” Lillard said before returning home before reflecting on the experience. “I think I had some surgeries in my career, and there were things I had to deal with with my ankles, knees, Achilles, calves, etc. But that’s what you’re going to rehab.
“I think that’s what I was doing, and then you see the blood clot. Obviously, it’s something that can affect your life.”
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In his first two games, Lillard looked like someone who couldn’t play basketball for the majority of the month. He shot six of the 25 out of the field in games 2 and 3, but his mere presence was a huge boost for the Bucks. Back home for Game 3, the Bucks were pulled away in the second half and eventually joined the board of the series.
Despite the obvious flaws of the Bucks, they still led Giannis Antetokounmpo and hoped that as Lillard was acting they could return to this series. In one incorrect step, it was all erased.
The clock was checked past 12:30am local time and before Antetokounmpo finally reached the podium.
“What did we get?” he sat down and asked rhetorically.
The truthful answers that no one else wanted to admit is a lot of questions.
“I respect him so much, I respect him so much,” Antetocompo said. I said before, before detailing how much Lillard has been on and off the court over the past few years, and what he means to himself and his team. “I always respected Dame before we became teammates, but now my level of respect is much higher. I respect him. I respect him a lot.”
There’s no chance the Bucks would make a 3-1 comeback if Lillard actually tore his Achilles tendon. And – for Lillard, AntetoCompo and the Bucks, concerns go far beyond this series.
Milwaukee’s emotions were best fitted by Rivers, who tweeted a short phrase to himself when he left the podium shortly after the game: “Ah, f —.”
