Nearly 7 months after joining the Milwaukee Bucks, Damian Lillard has finally taken baby steps toward his goal of winning an NBA championship. The 8x All-Star has ended his playoff drought of two years, as he now enters the playoffs as part of the third-seeded team in the East. Following this achievement, Dame shed light on just how excited he is by making the playoffs again, and how it finally makes his move to Milwaukee justified.
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During the postgame conference, Lillard declared, “Last two years not being in the playoffs, it sucked. Early vacations. Last year, I went to Coachella. I ain’t ever been able to go to Coachella…But being able to be in a playoff series on a championship team, in a championship organization, knowing that we got an opportunity for it, I think that was the thing I was looking forward to most”.
The seeming joy in Dame’s tone likely results from his team finally being able to support him all the way to the postseason. After all, the star had to do just about everything to make sure he got to the playoffs, during his time in Portland. In a stark difference to that, the star can now have a bad run of form for an entire season and still make the postseason as top three seed. Seeing his situation change so drastically, why wouldn’t the star be happy?
That said, now that he is in the NBA Playoffs again, how did he do? Was he finally able to recover enough to play like his old self again? Or was it just a repetition of the same problem that persisted all regular season-long?
How effective was Damian Lillard on his comeback to the playoffs?
The momentum of Game 1 between the Bucks and the Indiana Pacers swung like a pendulum throughout. Both teams refused to succumb to each other’s pressure, paving the way for an exciting clash for the NBA fans. Amidst the uncertainty, Lillard seized this opportunity to proclaim his authority on the court in the absence of the talisman, Giannis Antetokounmpo.
As per StaMuse, Dame registered a stunning 35 points in just the first half, setting the franchise record in the playoffs. During this period, the 33-year-old made six three-pointers while going 11-19 from the field. Interestingly, he even nearly matched the opposition’s tally of total points in the first half as the Pacers registered only 42.
The team’s dependency on Lillard paid off with the Bucks winning the tie with a 109-94 final score. This win was a massive one for Milwaukee, not just in the context of the series, but as a whole as well. After all, prior to this contest, Milwaukee had lost four of their last five games played against the Indiana Pacers (per Statmuse). The kind of mental block this likely created in the team’s heads was something that it needed to get rid of, stat. So, now that it is (at least mostly) out, it should be much smoother sailing for Cream City.
However, to reach the final goal, the franchise needs the services of Antetokounmpo. And fortunately for them, per ESPN’s latest reports, the Greek Freak remains on track to come back later in the series. Until then, fans will hope Dame can hold the fort on his own.
That said, if Game 1 is any indication, the former Blazer will go above and beyond with ease.
