The Milwaukee Bucks‘ turbulent season is on the verge of a premature conclusion and could be over as soon as Tuesday. They are down 1-3 in their first-round playoff series against the Indiana Pacers and are looking to avoid a season-ending loss at home in Game 5. The Bucks will consider themselves unlucky not to be level in the series heading into Fiserv Forum on Tuesday. They had the Pacers on the ropes in Game 3 and pushed the game to overtime, but unfortunately ran out of gas and lost by three points eventually. More importantly, superstar guard Damian Lillard suffered an Achilles injury in the game, which left him sidelined in Game 4.
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Damian Lillard suffered an apparent injury on this play and was helped to the bench. pic.twitter.com/QM8qKaxOYa
— ESPN (@espn) April 26, 2024
Lillard joined two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is nursing a left soleus strain, on the sidelines in Game 4 as the Bucks suffered a 13-point loss to go down 3-1 in the series. Milwaukee had hoped that Antetokounmpo would return by Game 5, but that seems unlikely. And to make matters worse, Lillard, too, could end up missing the game. The All-Star guard has been added to the NBA’s injury report for Game 5, where his status has been listed as ‘doubtful’.
Antetokounmpo and Lillard are expected to miss the game, and the Pacers are heavily favored to finish the job in Milwaukee to book their berth in the second round of the playoffs. The Bucks have struggled against the Pacers all season long, even with Dame and Giannis on the team. So this series was a matchup nightmare for Milwaukee right from the jump.
Has Damian Lillard regressed in Milwaukee?
The curtains are closing on Damian Lillard’s debut season as a Milwaukee Buck, and underwhelming is the most generous way to describe it. His stats have tumbled across the board this season. In his final season in Portland, he averaged 32.2 points, 7.3 assists, and 4.8 rebounds, on 46.3% shooting from the field. In his first season in Milwaukee, his numbers have dipped to 24.3 points, seven assists, and 4.4 rebounds on 42.4% shooting.
Lillard’s numbers declined further after the Bucks hired Doc Rivers to lead the team following rookie head coach Adrian Griffin’s unceremonious exit from the franchise. Under the former championship-winning head coach, he averaged 22.9 points, 7.2 assists, and 4.5 rebounds in 30 regular season games. These numbers are a far cry from the All-NBA caliber guard the Bucks thought they had landed last offseason.
Lillard’s form and Antetokounmpo’s absence due to injury meant that the mood was grim in Milwaukee ahead of Game 1 against the Pacers. But to everyone’s surprise, the superstar guard turned back the clock to last season and dropped a 35-point masterclass to guide the Bucks to a win. A loss in Game 2 turned the tide in the Pacers’ favor, but Lillard’s 34-point performance gave Bucks fans hope that they could steal a game in Indiana and potentially win the series.
But the veteran guard’s injury in the Game 3 loss scuppered those plans. The Bucks started the year hoping Lillard’s addition would lead to a second championship in four seasons. But one disappointing campaign later, they head into the offseason wondering how their season derailed so spectacularly and what can be done to fix it ahead of the 2024-25 season.
