Despite a convincing 118-89 victory over the Los Angles Lakers on Thursday night, the Milwaukee Bucks, to put it plainly, have not been playing good basketball as of late. They are currently 39-30 on the season and sit in fifth place in the NBA Eastern Conference. They are a game behind the Indiana Pacer for fourth, and only a game ahead of the Detroit Pistons, who are in sixth.
Fortunately, they are six games ahead of the seventh-seed Atlanta Hawks, which means that they almost assuredly will not have to participate in the play-in tournament. Still, having lost five of their last eight games, there are serious concerns regarding how far Milwaukee will be able to advance when the NBA Playoffs start.
The Bucks will look to build off of their win over the short-handed Lakers when they take on the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night, but will be doing so without one of their best players.
Milwaukee Bucks All-Star Damian Lillard Will Not Play for the Second Game in a Row
Nine-time All-Star Damian Lillard is having another solid season for Milwaukee, averaging 24.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 7.1 assists per game. Unfortunately, he was held out of the Bucks’ victory over Los Angeles due to right Soleus soreness. Milwaukee fans may recall that Giannis Antetokounmpo missed the entire NBA Playoffs series against the Pacers last year due to a Soleus injury.
With 13 games left in the regular season and little-to-no doubt that they will make it to the postseason, Milwaukee has decided to rest Lillard for the second game in a row.
Indeed, the best chance the Bucks have of making any noise in the playoffs is if they are able to keep both Giannis and Lillard healthy. For the most part, they have done a good job of that this year. Lillard has played in 58 of a possible 69 games while Giannis has played in 57.
That being said, this late in the year, injuries can creep up on players, especially those as old as Dame, who is 34. The fact of the matter is that Milwaukee is not exactly a young team, and injuries are a real concern.
NBA Analyst Says the Milwaukee Bucks Should Be Concerned About This Damian Lillard Injury
In addition to Giannis missing the entire series against Indiana in the playoffs last year, Lillard was limited with an Achilles injury that also kept him out of two of the games. When he was on the floor, he was a shadow of his usual self.
With this in mind, Alex Kirschenbaum of Sports Illustrated believes Milwaukee has every right to be seriously concerned about this latest injury:
“As for whether Milwaukee should worry about Lillard’s long-term health, it’s a reasonable question.
“The 34-year-old has broken down at the end of each of his last three seasons. Although he appeared in 73 regular season bouts during his debut year with Milwaukee, by the Bucks’ first-round playoff matchup with the lower-seeded Indiana Pacers, he was hurt again. Lillard missed two contests in the six-game series defeat.”
As it stands, both Lillard and Giannis are still eligible for postseason awards under the NBA’s new policy that states that players who miss 16+ games cannot win MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, etc., or be named to an All-NBA Team.
However, should either miss any more extended time heading up to the end of the regular season, they could become disqualified from such nominations. Fortunately, both want to win team accolades far more than individual ones.
Hopefully both, and in this case especially Lillard, are as close to 100% as possible by the time the NBA Playoffs come around.
| Season | Age | Team | Lg | Pos | G | GS | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | 2P | 2PA | 2P% | eFG% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-13 | 22 | POR | NBA | PG | 82 | 82 | 38.6 | 6.7 | 15.7 | .429 | 2.3 | 6.1 | .368 | 4.5 | 9.6 | .469 | .501 | 3.3 | 3.9 | .844 | 0.5 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 6.5 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 3.0 | 2.1 | 19.0 | ROY-1 |
| 2013-14 | 23 | POR | NBA | PG | 82 | 82 | 35.8 | 6.7 | 15.9 | .424 | 2.7 | 6.8 | .394 | 4.1 | 9.1 | .447 | .508 | 4.5 | 5.2 | .871 | 0.4 | 3.1 | 3.5 | 5.6 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 20.7 | AS,NBA3 |
| 2014-15 | 24 | POR | NBA | PG | 82 | 82 | 35.7 | 7.2 | 16.6 | .434 | 2.4 | 7.0 | .343 | 4.8 | 9.6 | .500 | .506 | 4.2 | 4.9 | .864 | 0.6 | 4.0 | 4.6 | 6.2 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 2.7 | 2.0 | 21.0 | AS |
| 2015-16 | 25 | POR | NBA | PG | 75 | 75 | 35.7 | 8.2 | 19.7 | .419 | 3.1 | 8.1 | .375 | 5.2 | 11.5 | .450 | .497 | 5.5 | 6.2 | .892 | 0.6 | 3.4 | 4.0 | 6.8 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 3.2 | 2.2 | 25.1 | MVP-8,NBA2 |
| 2016-17 | 26 | POR | NBA | PG | 75 | 75 | 35.9 | 8.8 | 19.8 | .444 | 2.9 | 7.7 | .370 | 6.0 | 12.1 | .492 | .516 | 6.5 | 7.3 | .895 | 0.6 | 4.3 | 4.9 | 5.9 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 2.6 | 2.0 | 27.0 | |
| 2017-18 | 27 | POR | NBA | PG | 73 | 73 | 36.6 | 8.5 | 19.4 | .439 | 3.1 | 8.6 | .361 | 5.4 | 10.8 | .501 | .519 | 6.8 | 7.4 | .916 | 0.8 | 3.6 | 4.5 | 6.6 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 2.8 | 1.6 | 26.9 | MVP-4,AS,NBA1 |
| 2018-19 | 28 | POR | NBA | PG | 80 | 80 | 35.5 | 8.5 | 19.2 | .444 | 3.0 | 8.0 | .369 | 5.6 | 11.1 | .499 | .522 | 5.9 | 6.4 | .912 | 0.9 | 3.8 | 4.6 | 6.9 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 2.7 | 1.9 | 25.8 | MVP-6,AS,NBA2 |
| 2019-20 | 29 | POR | NBA | PG | 66 | 66 | 37.5 | 9.5 | 20.4 | .463 | 4.1 | 10.2 | .401 | 5.4 | 10.2 | .524 | .563 | 7.0 | 7.8 | .888 | 0.5 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 8.0 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 2.9 | 1.7 | 30.0 | MVP-8,AS,NBA2 |
| 2020-21 | 30 | POR | NBA | PG | 67 | 67 | 35.8 | 9.0 | 19.9 | .451 | 4.1 | 10.5 | .391 | 4.9 | 9.4 | .519 | .554 | 6.7 | 7.2 | .928 | 0.5 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 7.5 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 3.0 | 1.5 | 28.8 | MVP-7,AS,NBA2 |
| 2021-22 | 31 | POR | NBA | PG | 29 | 29 | 36.4 | 7.7 | 19.0 | .402 | 3.2 | 9.8 | .324 | 4.5 | 9.2 | .485 | .486 | 5.5 | 6.2 | .878 | 0.4 | 3.7 | 4.1 | 7.3 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 2.9 | 1.3 | 24.0 | |
| 2022-23 | 32 | POR | NBA | PG | 58 | 58 | 36.3 | 9.6 | 20.7 | .463 | 4.2 | 11.3 | .371 | 5.4 | 9.4 | .574 | .564 | 8.8 | 9.6 | .914 | 0.8 | 4.0 | 4.8 | 7.3 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 3.3 | 1.9 | 32.2 | CPOY-10,AS,NBA3 |
| 2023-24 | 33 | MIL | NBA | PG | 73 | 73 | 35.3 | 7.4 | 17.5 | .424 | 3.0 | 8.5 | .354 | 4.4 | 9.0 | .490 | .510 | 6.5 | 7.0 | .920 | 0.5 | 3.9 | 4.4 | 7.0 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 2.6 | 1.8 | 24.3 | CPOY-11,AS |
| 2024-25 | 34 | MIL | NBA | PG | 58 | 58 | 36.1 | 7.7 | 17.1 | .448 | 3.4 | 9.0 | .376 | 4.3 | 8.1 | .528 | .547 | 6.2 | 6.8 | .921 | 0.5 | 4.2 | 4.7 | 7.1 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 2.8 | 1.7 | 24.9 | |
| 13 Yrs | 900 | 900 | 36.2 | 8.1 | 18.4 | .439 | 3.1 | 8.4 | .371 | 5.0 | 10.0 | .495 | .523 | 5.8 | 6.5 | .899 | 0.6 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 6.7 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 2.8 | 1.9 | 25.1 | |||||
| POR (11 Yrs) | 769 | 769 | 36.3 | 8.2 | 18.6 | .439 | 3.1 | 8.3 | .372 | 5.1 | 10.3 | .494 | .523 | 5.8 | 6.4 | .895 | 0.6 | 3.6 | 4.2 | 6.7 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 2.8 | 1.9 | 25.2 | |||||
| MIL (2 Yrs) | 131 | 131 | 35.7 | 7.5 | 17.3 | .434 | 3.2 | 8.7 | .364 | 4.3 | 8.6 | .506 | .526 | 6.4 | 6.9 | .921 | 0.5 | 4.0 | 4.5 | 7.0 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 2.7 | 1.8 | 24.6 | |||||
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