(Stacy Revere via Getty Images)
Damian Lillard had to be helped off the court at Fiserv Forum after he went down with an apparent ankle injury on Sunday night.
Lillard, just minutes into the Milwaukee Bucks’ Game 4 matchup with the Indiana Pacers, stumbled while trying to grab a rebound at the top of the key. He immediately reached for his left ankle and foot after he successfully passed the ball away, but he remained down clearly in pain as play went the other way.
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Lillard remained down on the floor for quite some time, and was then helped off the court without putting any pressure on his left foot. He went straight back to the locker room, and the team then ruled him out before the start of the second quarter with what they called a lower leg injury.
Further specifics of his injury are not yet known. The fear, according to NBA insider Chris Haynes, is that Lillard tore his left Achilles.
Lillard’s injury came in just his third game back from a blood clot in his other leg, which kept him out for the final stretch of the regular season. Lillard was diagnosed with deep-vein thrombosis in his right calf in mid-March, which many expected would knock him out for the remainder of the year. It was the same condition that San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama was dealing with in his right shoulder, too. Lillard was placed on blood-thinning medication that stabilized the clot.
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But remarkably, Lillard was cleared to return for Game 2 of the series. He had 14 points and seven assists in his return, and then he had seven points and five assists in what was a rough shooting night in Milwaukee’s Game 3 win on Friday.
Lillard had two assists and two rebounds, and shot 0-2 from the field, when he went down on Sunday. The 34-year-old averaged 24.9 points and 7.1 assists per game this season, his second with the Bucks.
The Pacers, who entered Sunday night with a 2-1 lead in the series, took a 30-24 lead after the opening quarter.
This post will be updated with more information shortly.
