Indianapolis – The Milwaukee Bucks coach, Doc Rivers, has learned to take the NBA Damian Lillard in his word in his word.
So, when Rivers spoke with his injured 34 -year -old star guard on Tuesday, he was not surprised to hear Lillard’s reaction to the tendon of a torn left That eliminated this year’s first round playoff series against Indiana.
“He said two things, which I love,” Rivers said. “The first, just said I can’t believe it is here. ‘ So the second is ‘I’m not going out this way’. I can guarantee that it will not, and that is what I meant with its resolution. “
Lillard suffered a contactless injury on Sunday night in game 4 of the Bucks series against Indiana. I was behind the 3 -point line, near the top of the key, In the middle of the first quarter when the ball bounced towards him. Lillard used his left hand to bow the ball towards his teammate Gary Trent Jr., then went down and grabbed the bottom of his left leg.
He remained sitting as the game continued and needed help, both to get up and to leave the court. Milwaukee lost the game 129-103placing the dollars in a 3-1 deficit and on the edge of a third straight output of first round. The series resumes Tuesday night in Indianapolis.
Lillard’s absence is a great blow, especially after the seven-time All-Nba selection fought so hard to return only one month after being diagnosed with deep venous thrombosis in his right calf, a ailment that usually has been recovering for months, no weeks.
Then, in his third game, Lillard was hurt again. This time with an injury that could keep it out of a significant portion of the next season and potentially finish its pairing with the twice MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. The tandem has appeared in just three playoff games in its two seasons as teammates.
But Lillard is determined to return as quickly as possible.
“It’s amazing,” Rivers said. “He’s already talking about his return and being better and being ready. We also had a long talk about that today.”
Lillard did not look like his typically explosive self in any of the three games against the Pacers. He averaged 7.0 points, 4.7 assists and 2.7 rebounds in those games compared to the 31.3 points he scored in the defeat of the 4-2 series last year against the Pacers and the 18.3 points and 9.3 assists he averaged in the four regular seasonal games of this season against Indiana.
He took the tenth place in the NBA in punctuation (24.9) and tenth in assists (7.1) this season.
After Sunday’s game, the Pacers players who had verbally entered Lillard in the first three games in the series also sent the best to Lillard.
Rivers chose to shake his initial alignment on Tuesday by inserting the guards AJ Green and Kevin Porter Jr., as well as striker Bobby Portis Jr. Trent also returns to the initial alignment.
Lillard’s last absence is the last chapter of a bad luck of postseason for bucks since he won his Title 2021.
A knee injury kept Khris Middleton out of all the semifinal defeat of the East Conference of Seven Games against Boston in 2022. Antetokounmpo Magulled his lower back in game 1 and lost the next two games before returning in a defeat of the first round series of 2023 against Miami. Antetokounmppo also lost the six games against Indiana in 2024 with a calf.
___
The AP sports writer Steve Megargee also contributed to this report.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
