04/28/25 03:12:00
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04/28 15:10 CDT Bucks confirm Damian Lillard has a torn left Achilles tendon
Bucks confirm Damian Lillard has a torn left Achilles tendon
By STEVE MEGARGEE
AP Sports Writer
MILWAUKEE (AP) --- Damian Lillard has a torn left Achilles tendon, confirming
the Milwaukee Bucks' worst fears after the seven-time all-NBA guard was helped
off the court Sunday night.
The Bucks announced the severity of Lillard's injury after he had an MRI on
Monday.
The injury knocks Lillard out for the rest of the postseason and could put his
status for next season in doubt as well. When Kevin Durant tore his Achilles
tendon in the 2019 NBA Finals, he ended up missing the entire 2019-20 season.
The Bucks had been bracing for this outcome after Milwaukee's 129-103 loss to
the Indiana Pacers in Game 4. Milwaukee trails the Indiana Pacers 3-1 in their
Eastern Conference first-round series. Game 5 is Tuesday at Indianapolis.
Lillard's injury occurred in his third game since coming back from deep vein
thrombosis in his right calf.
"This is a tough one, honestly," Bucks coach Doc Rivers said after Sunday's
game. "Blood clot, followed by this. It's just tough. That's why you have
teammates and family around him. He's just such a great freaking dude, on a
basketball level, but more importantly as a teammate and a father and all that
stuff."
Lillard, 34, was behind the 3-point line around the top of the key midway
through the first quarter 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. He continued to sit on the floor as
play resumed on the other end of the court.
When Lillard got up, he couldn't put weight on his left leg. He eventually was
helped off the court and into the locker room.
"He's one of the toughest guys I know, so when he stays down, you feel for
him," said teammate Pat Connaughton, who played with Lillard in Portland and
Milwaukee.
Lillard's toughness had been apparent from the fact that he was playing in the
first place after missing the Bucks' final 14 regular-season games with deep
vein thrombosis, an abnormal clot within a vessel where the congealing of blood
blocks the flow through on the way back to the heart.
He was taken off blood-thinning medication and cleared to resume full
basketball activity after the regular season. He missed Game 1 of the Pacers
series to work his way back and then returned in Game 2.
"I have so much respect for him," teammate and two-time MVP Giannis
Antetokounmpo said. "A lot of people don't see what Dame had to deal with, but
we're around him every single day, and it's hard. It's hard being in his
position. He's one of the toughest, mentally toughest guys I've ever been
around. That's why he is who he is."
Lillard ranked 10th in the NBA in scoring (24.9) and 10th in assists (7.1) this
season while earning his 10th All-Star Game selection. He made an
extraordinarily rapid return from his deep vein thrombosis to rejoin his
teammates for the playoffs.
While talking to reporters before the playoffs, Lillard said doctors had told
him his case was unusual.
"They were just like, ?We don't see this,'" Lillard said then. "For me, I was
just like, it was a different experience for me because I went in there a bunch
of times and it was the same size. So I'm like, it didn't seem that special,
and then it just reached a point where it just got a lot smaller out of
nowhere."
Now he faces an even longer recovery while dealing with a separate issue
requiring surgery.
"I believe he's going to overcome every obstacle that's put in front of him,"
Antetokounmpo said. "Everybody's going to be there for him. No matter what the
obstacle is for him, he's going to overcome and we're going to help him
overcome it."
Lillard's situation continues the Bucks' run of bad luck with postseason
injuries since winning their 2021 title.
Khris Middleton missed an entire seven-game Eastern Conference semifinal loss
to Boston in 2022 with a sprained medial collateral ligament. 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 Miami. 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.
___
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