Damian Lillard to make return from blood clots for Game 2 of Bucks-Pacers

The Milwaukee Bucks are getting a major boost to their lineup ahead of Tuesday’s Game 2 against the Indiana Pacers. Damian Lillard told reporters that he would make his return from the deep vein thrombosis ailment he had in his right calf on Tuesday.

Lillard was upgraded to questionable for Game 2 on Monday after sitting out since March 18 due to blood clots. The Bucks had announced Thursday that Lillard was off blood-thinning medication and cleared for full basketball activity after dealing with deep vein thrombosis in his right calf. The Bucks could use Lillard after they shot 9 of 37 from 3-point range in a 117-98 Game 1 loss at Indiana.

The injury report upgrading Lillard to questionable came out after coach Doc Rivers had already spoken to reporters on Monday. Rivers said he didn’t know whether Lillard would play Tuesday, but noted that the 34-year-old had been making progress.

“We didn’t do a lot of live stuff today, but he did everything today,” Rivers said after Monday’s practice. “He’s just progressing. He looks good.”

Because the Bucks had two days off between Games 1 and 2, they returned to Milwaukee to practice before heading back to Indianapolis for Tuesday’s game.

A week after Lillard’s last game on March 18, the Bucks announced that he was dealing with 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.

While he was on blood-thinning medication, Lillard couldn’t do much from a basketball standpoint beyond shooting free throws, though he said specialists eventually permitted him to do some exercises such as lifting weights. Because of his lack of basketball activity over the last month, Lillard was going to need time to get himself playoff-ready even after doctors cleared him.

“I was able to be active and do some stuff and then I got cleared to be on the court, and I was able to do some hard workouts and do some conditioning and stuff like that,” Lillard said Friday. “So we’ll see. The moment that I feel good about it, I’m not going to be waiting and all of that. The moment that I feel I can go, I’m going to go.”

Damian Lillard cleared of deep vein thrombosis, returns ahead of playoffs | First Things First

The Bucks went 3-1 against the Pacers during the regular season, with Lillard playing in each of those games and averaging 18.3 points, 9.3 assists and 5.5 rebounds while shooting 35.5% from the floor and 38.9% on 3-point attempts.

Lillard appeared in 58 games during the regular season and ranked 10th in the league in both scoring (24.9) and assists (7.1) while earning his ninth All-Star Game selection.

Although he didn’t play Saturday, Lillard was on the bench and even got a technical foul late in the game after exchanging words with Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton during a timeout.

Haliburton, a two-time All-Star, expects to be matching up with Lillard on the floor at some point in this series.

“It can happen at any time, I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened tomorrow,” Haliburton said. “So we’ve got to be prepared for whatever that is, understanding that in the playoffs, it ain’t about individual performances, it’s about winning.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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