Last night, the Milwaukee Bucks began to claw themselves out of the hole they found themselves in after going down 2-0 in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. In their return to Milwaukee, the Bucks won by 16 points in a game that was never really in doubt. One guard swayed the game in the Bucks’ favor by making a handful of threes, but it’s not who you might think. Gary Trent Jr. went off with a ridiculous 37 points, while Damian Lillard languished with only 7 points.
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Lillard has been expectedly disappointing since returning from deep vein thrombosis. Some fans were worried that Dame should not even be playing so soon after a blood clot, and it seems their worries had some merit. He has averaged just 10.5 points per game on a heinous 24% from the field and 18% from deep.
That was what stood out to former all-star Joe Johnson, who joined Shannon Sharpe’s Nightcap podcast.
“My problem with Milwaukee is, Dame coming off this calf injury, he not gonna be playing at no high level,” said Johnson. “I think just by having him out there as a decoy, but you know, he can get hot, he can make some shots. But, I think with that calf injury, it’s limiting him to how he’s ultimately going to be able to perform.”
It’s a tough blow to Milwaukee, who thought they were getting an MVP candidate after trading for Lillard only to be eliminated in the first round en route to watching the Boston Celtics win a championship with Jrue Holiday. While it’s understandable that Lillard is not currently playing at a super high level, it does little to stop the rumors of a breakup for the Bucks.
Giannis Antetokounmpo has been consistently excellent in the playoffs. He’s averaging over 35 points a game in an attempt to buoy the Bucks. His team has not been doing a good job of supporting him, unfortunately, with trade deadline acquisition Kyle Kuzma being especially bad.
According to Sharpe, as long as Giannis stays hot and can “bring someone along with him,” they’ll have a leg up on Indiana.
Ultimately, Johnson was right, though, that, “[Gary Trent] won this game for them.” As he said, “He was on fire.”
Sharpe noted Indy’s vulnerabilities in the game. “Normally their starters, somewhere between 12 and 25, 26 points, and then they have a guy or two off the bench in double figures,” the Broncos legend said, pointing to the Pacers’ underperformance. Specifically, Andrew Nembhard and Myles Turner’s lack of typical offensive production doomed Indiana.
