It’s gone from bad to worse for the Milwaukee Bucks as superstar guard Damian Lillard’s status is uncertain for Game 4 against the Indiana Pacers as he deals with a strained Achilles, the Athletic’s Shams Charania reported Saturday.
According to Charania, Lillard has been dealing with “significant soreness” in his Achilles tendon in recent weeks and has been playing through the pain. He apparently re-aggravated the injury in the fourth quarter of the Game 3 loss to Indiana on Friday.
“I think it’s his Achilles again, so we’ll see,” Bucks head coach Doc Rivers said according to the Athletic’s Eric Nehm. “Honestly, Dame was really struggling. In the overtime, he literally said, ‘I’ll be the decoy. I just can’t go as far as explosion.’ So I thought Dame just being out there was huge for us.”
Lillard also had to step away from the game in the first quarter after a foul from Pascal Siakam. However, the guard clarified after the game that the pain he was feeling stemmed from the incident in the fourth.
The 33-year-old guard has kept the Bucks afloat in their first round series against the Pacers, averaging 32.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists in the three games without co-star Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Antetokounmpo’s status is also still up in the air as he’s been absent for the team’s last six games dealing with a calf injury.
Milwaukee is currently down 2-1 to Indiana. Game 4 of their series will tip off at 7:00 p.m. ET / 4:00 p.m. PT on Sunday, April 28.
