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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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
Steve Megargee, The Associated Press
