Bucks’ Damian Lillard upgraded to questionable for Game 2 vs. Pacers

MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard is listed as questionable for Game 2 of the Bucks’ first-round playoff series with the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday, another step forward for the seven-time All-NBA guard after missing the past month.

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 Monday after coach Doc Rivers already had spoken to reporters. Rivers said he didn’t know whether Lillard would play Tuesday but noted that 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.

Lillard last played in a game on March 18. The Bucks announced a week later 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.”

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