UPDATE: Damian Lillard will make his return Tuesday vs. the Pacers, per ESPN’s Shams Charania.
After being cleared of deep vein thrombosis last week, Lillard returned to practice Monday. The guard is officially listed as questionable for Tuesday’s Game 2 vs. the Pacers due to conditioning.
When asked about Lillard’s availability for the second game of the playoff series, Bucks’ HC Doc Rivers told the media “He’s close. He looks great to me,” per Eric Nehm of the Athletic.
Lillard’s return appears to be imminent and the guard making his return Tuesday feels likely, especially with Milwaukee trailing 0-1 in this best-of-seven with Indiana. Lillard hasn’t played since March 18th after the blood clotting issue was discovered in his calf and the Bucks will likely want to somewhat limit the veteran if he returns Tuesday. That being said, after he gets a game under his belt, Lillard will likely get back to playing huge minutes given the playoff stakes.
This season, Lillard averages 24.9 points, 7.1 assists, and 4.7 rebounds per game. If the former All-Star returns Tuesday, Lillard will almost certainly start and bump Ryan Rollins back to the bench. All of the Bucks’ starters’ usage rates will also suffer, as Lillard is a ball-dominant guard who is handling a 27.8% usage rate this season.
While Lillard returning would be an obvious boost for Milwaukee’s offense, his presence will hurt their defense. With Lillard on the floor this season, the Bucks’ defensive rating has dropped 4.0 points to 116.7, which would be the sixth-worst defensive rating in the NBA if it was Milwaukee’s average for the season.
The Bucks are 32-26 with Lillard active this season and even with him trending towards playing Tuesday, Milwaukee remains a four-point underdog for Game 2 vs. the Pacers on DraftKings Sportsbook.
