Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard (0) appears on throughout warmups previous to sport 5 of the primary spherical for the 2024 NBA playoffs in opposition to the Indiana Pacers at Fiserv Discussion board. Necessary Credit score: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Photos Milwaukee Bucks All-Star level guard Damian Lillard has been cleared of his deep vein thrombosis and is not on blood-thinning treatment, in accordance with ESPN’s Shams Charania on Thursday.
Simply three weeks after being dominated out indefinitely as a result of blood clots, Lillard acquired exceptional and historic medical information by clearing the clot so shortly because of early detection and remedy.
Whereas Lillard received’t play in Saturday’s Sport 1 in opposition to the Indiana Pacers, the Bucks guard could have a time period to ramp up contact exercises forward of a return to basketball. No fast timeline has been set for his return.
I’m no physician, however leaving basketball out of this, it looks like a serious win for Lillard. As a fan of basketball, we’ve seen Chris Bosh must retire due to blood clots. An identical well being scare reduce quick the promising Defensive Participant of the 12 months marketing campaign of younger phenom Victor Wembanyama this season as nicely.
It’s a exceptional win to get Lillard again on the ground basically. However in three weeks? That’s phenomenal work by everybody concerned.
On the courtroom, there’s no denying that the Bucks will want Lillard’s providers sooner moderately than later. With out Lillard, Milwaukee was a powerful 16-8. When the information of those blood clots surfaced, many had written the Bucks off for useless in a top-heavy Jap Convention.
Milwaukee drew a tremendously troublesome first-round matchup with the Pacers, who’re the most effective offensive groups within the Jap Convention. Fueled by level guard Tyrese Haliburton, the Pacers can flat-out run the ground and put the ball within the basket at an extremely fast clip, so Lillard’s offensive prowess can be wanted.
In response to FanDuel Sportsbook, the Bucks are a slight +140 underdog to get out of the primary spherical. It’s anticipated to be probably the most aggressive first-round collection within the East. In the event that they do escape the high-scoring Pacers, they’ll doubtless have a convention semifinals date with the Cleveland Cavaliers — who completed the season because the No. 1 seed within the East with the No. 1 offense within the NBA.
Lillard was averaging almost 25 factors per sport earlier than being dominated out. He averaged simply over seven assists per sport as nicely. The Bucks will definitely welcome all of that, as Giannis Antetokounmpo will want his Robin wholesome and accessible to ensure that the Bucks to have actually any probability within the NBA Playoffs this season.
Nationally, the narrative surrounding the Jap Convention has been all concerning the Cavaliers, Boston Celtics and New York Knicks. It’s superb that Lillard is even medically accessible to provide it a go, as a result of the Bucks may want one other miracle out of him to make noise on this postseason.
