Star point guard Damian Lillard has been listed as questionable by the Bucks ahead of Tuesday’s Game 2 at Indiana, tweets Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files.
Shortly before the team announced the injury designation, head coach Doc Rivers said he wasn’t sure if Lillard would suit up, but he practiced on Monday and went through scrimmages the past two days, according to Eric Nehm of The Athletic (Twitter link).
“He’s close. He looks great to me,” Rivers said.
Lillard has recovered remarkably well from a blood calf in his right calf — he recently discussed the “scary” diagnosis, which occurred late last month. Although he missed Game 1, he was cleared of his deep vein thrombosis last week and began practicing. Lillard has continued to ramp up his activity in recent days — his injury designation is “return to competition reconditioning,” Nehm notes (via Twitter).
Lillard made his ninth All-Star appearance in 2024/25, averaging 24.9 points, 7.1 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals on .448/.376/.921 shooting in 36.1 minutes per contest. He would have been a strong candidate to make an All-NBA team for the eighth time, but did not qualify due to the 65-game rule — the 34-year-old appeared in 58 games this season.
Milwaukee certainly missed Lillard in Game 1, having been blown out by the Pacers. His potential return would be a boon for the Bucks, particularly on the offensive end — the team only managed 98 points while shooting just 9-of-37 from long distance (24.3%) in the series opener.
Starting to buy this story a bit more now. But still wouldn’t be surprised if this is a big misdirection…