Milwaukee Bucks All-Star guard Damian Lillard said he will return to action in Game 2 against the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night.
Indiana won Game 1 to take the lead in the best-of-seven series.
Lillard told reporters after a morning shootaround that he would see how his right calf feels before determining how much he would play. He missed more than a month because of deep vein thrombosis, with his last appearance for the Bucks coming March 18.
Lillard participated in his first full practice last Thursday after being cleared of deep vein thrombosis and stopping blood-thinning medication. Deep vein thrombosis is an abnormal clot within a vessel where the congealing of blood blocks the flow on the way back to the heart.
Doctors have told Bucks officials that the speed of Lillard’s recovery has never been seen before, but it occurred because of early treatment, detection and specialists working on him before a formal diagnosis, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania. Lillard began blood-thinning medication well before the March 25 diagnosis of the blood clot.
A nine-time NBA All-Star, Lillard averaged 24.9 points and 7.1 assists in 58 games this season. He averaged 31.3 points, 5.0 assists and 3.3 rebounds during the playoffs for the Bucks last season.
Lillard averaged 18.3 points, 9.3 assists and 5.5 rebounds while shooting 35.5% overall and 38.9% from 3-point range in this season’s four regular-season games against Indiana.
Indiana ousted Milwaukee in the first round last year, too. Lillard averaged 31.3 points in last year’s first-round series, which Indiana won 4-2. Two-time league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo missed all six of those games but scored 36 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in Saturday’s 117-98 loss.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
