Damian Lillard Vocal on Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks Unleashing New Facet of His Game

There’s no denying that Damian Lillard went through some struggles during the early part of his Milwaukee Bucks tenure. There were some growing pains along the way as Dame acclimatized himself to his new team and a new system. In fact, there should be a few more ups and downs moving forward.

However, the fact that Lillard is now averaging 37.3 points on 57.1 percent shooting over his last three games, while also knocking down 6.0 triples at a dizzying 52.9-percent clip is a clear testament to the fact that he’s now found his groove with the Bucks.

Milwaukee Bucks Unleashed a New Monster

Lillard himself admitted that life in Milwaukee has been very different compared to his time with the Portland Trail Blazers. In particular, Dame has not had to force the issue on the offensive end with guys like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton, among others, available.

Lillard has also found himself open much more with the Bucks as opposed to being the focal point of opposing defenses while he played the role of Portland’s cornerstone superstar. Now, opponents tend to collapse on Giannis more, thereby leaving Dame with more time and space than he’s been accustomed to.

For his part, Lillard has made sure to take advantage of the opportunities:

“I’ve seen it with a lot of players that go to a new team and then there’s things that they do that they’re showing that you probably didn’t see before based on the personnel of the team, they did other things,” Lillard told Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “It’s just to stretch myself to do other things to still help instead of doing the things I’ve always done. I’ll still do those things, because I’ll do what makes me, me. But it’s an opportunity to stretch myself.”

Damian Lillard was an absolute beast during his time with the Blazers, which was despite opposing defenses giving them their best shot every single night. The fact that he’s a seven-time All-NBA guard and a member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team is living proof of this notion.

He’s still that same monster now that he’s with the Bucks — albeit a year or so older — but it’s just that they don’t need him to carry the team on a nightly basis. Make no mistake about it, though, Dame is still very much capable of doing so when necessary.

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