MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard left Game 4 of an Eastern Conference first-round playoff series with the Indiana Pacers on Sunday after hurting his lower left leg in the first quarter.
Lillard was helped off the floor and into the locker room after the non-contact injury. The Bucks announced he wouldn’t return to the game.
This latest injury comes after Lillard had made a remarkable return from deep vein thrombosis in his right calf to play in the postseason. The calf issue had caused Lillard to miss the Bucks’ final 14 regular-season games as well as the opening game of this series.
The seven-time all-NBA player was behind the 3-point line Sunday when the ball bounced toward him. Lillard used his left hand to tip the ball toward teammate Gary Trent Jr., then went down and grabbed the lower part of his left leg, around his ankle. He continued to sit on the floor as play resumed on the other end of the court.
After a foul stopped play, Milwaukee’s Kyle Kuzma helped Lillard up. Lillard then started limping and had to be helped off the court and into the locker room.
Lillard’s previous injury involved his other leg. That previous injury required him to go on blood-thinning medication to treat his deep vein thrombosis, an abnormal clot within a vessel where the congealing of blood blocks the flow through on the way back to the heart.
He was taken off the blood-thinning medication and cleared to resume full basketball activities at the end of the regular season, and he returned to action for Game 2 of this series on Tuesday.
The Bucks have endured all sorts of postseason injuries since winning a title in 2021.
Khris Middleton missed an entire seven-game Eastern Conference semifinal loss to Boston in 2022 with a sprained medial collateral ligament. Giannis Antetokounmpo bruised his lower back in Milwaukee’s first playoff game in 2023 and didn’t return until Game 4 of a first-round series it lost 4-1 to the Miami Heat. In the Bucks’ 4-2 first-round loss to Indiana last year, Antetokounmpo didn’t play at all because of a calf strain and Lillard missed two games with an Achilles injury.
The Bucks trailed this best-of-seven series 2-1 heading into Game 4.
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