The Milwaukee Bucks are in the middle of a truly rough stretch of results, which continued on Monday night. As the visiting Portland Trailblazers rolled into town, one of the big storylines of the night was one of the Blazers who was not suiting up: Damian Lillard was back in Milwaukee after his stunning offseason release. On a night where the Bucks showed love to Lillard, the team lost 115-103.
Damian Lillard Returns to Milwaukee
One of the loudest offseason moves of summer 2025 was the Milwaukee Bucks choosing to release superstar point guard Damian Lillard. Fresh off a depressing first-round postseason exit to the Indiana Pacers, during which Lillard rushed back from a shoulder injury only to tear his ACL, general manager Jon Horst decided that the man they traded a massive haul for just two years prior was no longer the answer in the Cream City.
Lillard was cut, with the team willingly eating upwards of $120 million over the next five seasons. The cap room they did create was used to add Myles Turner. Fans and experts were generally negative of the move, with criticisms including questioning the on-court philosophy, recoiling at the historic financial ramifications, and bashing the cold-blooded nature of cutting a star player who had only recently fought back from a health problem only to be even more seriously injured.
Regardless of all the offseason noise the Lillard situation created, November 24th was the night Lillard was back in town, this time as a member of the Portland Trailblazers. After Milwaukee secured a deal with Portland back in 2023, Lillard had rejoined the organization and was now visiting as a member of a young Western Conference squad trying to find its way under interim head coach Tiago Splitter. Meanwhile, the hosting Bucks are quickly plummeting towards the Eastern Conference’s lower tier as head coach Doc Rivers continues to search for answers without the services of Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Even though Lillard is not suited up due to his ACL injury, the former Bucks guard still got some shots up in his return to Fiserv Forum.
First warmup back in Milwaukee 🏀
Damian Lillard getting reps up in his return to the Fiserv Forum. pic.twitter.com/m0hp9QR8RM
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) November 24, 2025
Lillard was honored with a tribute video and the fan reception seemed to be generally positive. After the video played in the arena, Lillard waved to the crowd as the fans applauded.
Dame Time will always hold a place in our history. 💚 pic.twitter.com/xrwU2nQKnQ
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) November 25, 2025
Damian Lillard’s Portland Trailblazers Handily Defeat Milwaukee Bucks
Despite the commemorations for Lillard, once the game began, there was little for Bucks fans to celebrate. Portland jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, controlling the game from start to finish and comfortably seeing out a 115-103 win. Jerami Grant led the way for the visitors, tallying 35 points, 16 of which came from the free throw line.
For the Bucks, Kyle Kuzma had a strong effort with 15 points and 6 rebounds. In his first game as a starter, Jericho Sims contributed 0 points and was limited to just eleven minutes. Off the bench, Bobby Portis had 22 points on 9-15 shooting and Gary Trent Jr. played a solid game, chipping in 12 points.
With no Giannis, the Bucks are still looking for offensive identity and enough firepower to compete on a night-to-night basis. In years past, Lillard would have been the obvious solution to an Antetokounmpo absence. Instead, Ryan Rollins has been leading the team in scoring lately, being first in the scoring column for each of the last three games. However, against Portland, he went 4-14 with just 10 points.
Antetokounmpo and Lillard did have a chance to reunite prior to tip-off. Although neither player participated in the on-court affairs, the former co-stars joked around before their teams squared off.
Giannis and Dame pregame. 🤝 pic.twitter.com/NXJzqhzmaw
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) November 24, 2025
As Milwaukee continues to slog through a rough patch without their best player, Lillard and the visiting Blazers picked up another road win. When the Bucks travel to Miami to face the Heat on Wednesday, their five-game losing streak will go head-to-head with a team who is on a five-game win streak.
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