Bucks' Damian Lillard departs Game 4 against Pacers with non-contact leg injury, won't return

Boston Globe

28-04-2025

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.
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Damian Lillard headed to the locker room after suffering an apparent injury vs. the Pacers.
— ESPN (@espn)
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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
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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 the Celtics 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.