Milwaukee Bucks star Damian Lillard has torn his left Achilles tendon, the team announced Monday. It’s news that the Bucks feared would be confirmed after an MRI Monday, and now the sobering reality has set in. Lillard will miss the rest of the playoffs for the Bucks, and will likely also miss a good chunk — if not all — of next season rehabbing from the injury.
The injury occurred just six minutes into the first quarter of Game 3 on Sunday. Lillard was attempting to corral an offensive rebound off a missed Gary Trent Jr. 3-pointer, but as he tried to accelerate, the All-Star guard crumpled to the ground, visibly in pain. Play continued as Lillard sat at the 3-point line, and as Kyle Kuzma tried to help him off the floor at the next dead ball, Lillard couldn’t put any weight on his left leg. The All-NBA guard was helped to the Bucks bench by the team’s medical staff as he hopped on one leg straight back to the locker room.
Lillard was ruled out of the game before the first half concluded, with what they called a “lower left leg injury.”
It’s a devastating blow for Lillard who just returned from a different setback, a blood clot that kept him sidelined for the last 13 games of the regular season and Game 1 of Milwaukee’s playoff matchup against the Indiana Pacers. Lillard’s return from the blood clot was incredibly quick, given other players, most recently Victor Wembanyama in February, had their season ended after the diagnosis. But Lillard was medically cleared to return to the court, and had played in each of Milwaukee’s last three games.
Damian Lillard’s injury is the latest knife twist in what has been a cruel ending to his prime
Sam Quinn
In the first two games back, it was obvious there was some rust Lillard needed to knock off, averaging just 10.5 points, six assists and three rebounds on 24% from the field…
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