Saturday game against the Chicago Bulls slipped from the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks despite Damian Lillard’s triumphant return.
Lillard scored 29 points and had six rebounds and 12 assists in his return after three games of absence due to illness.
His production put the Bucks ahead most of the time except the first quarter when he was still trying to re-adjust to the game.
One thing did not happen though – Dame Time. The last two minutes of the game came with the Bucks still up by one possession but their hosts made a run to get ahead.
It remained winnable for anyone but the Bucks ran out of bullets.
Lillard did not take shot since the last five minutes of the game, something head coach Doc Rivers said they must do a better job of.
He told Eric Nehm of The Athletic:
That’s gotta be better. One thing I would say is I gotta be better making sure Dame gets the ball in his hands down the stretch of the game. We drew two plays to get him on the secondary (action) because they were loading up and he never got it. Like we have to have an understanding to get it to him and I just gotta get it to him and live with it.
Most of the shots in the last two minutes were taken by either Khris Middleton, AJ Green, and Brook Lopez.
Damian Lillard’s franchise-setting record
The only consolation for Lillard in the game is that his name will be etched in Bucks’ history.
The eight-time All-Star became the first player in team history to have 25 points and 10 assists with zero turnovers in multiple games.
The team has had great point guards before so this is really a surprising and amazing stat. Among them are Oscar Robertson, Sam Cassell, and Brandon Jennings.
The Bucks will try to improve their record on Christmas eve when they take on the Indiana Pacers although there’s still no assurance if Giannis Antetokounmpo will finally return.
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