The Milwaukee Bucks are even more undermanned and with only a few painful additions on top of the already concerning injury report, there are only a few players left in the season.
Already without superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo due to a calf strain he suffered on April 9, the team is scheduled to play in Game 4 against the Pacers on Sunday, with Milwaukee leading 2-1 in the series. Player and All-Star guard Damian Lillard will be out.
Lillard was hampered by Achilles tension in the Bucks’ Game 3 loss.
The 33-year-old suffered a setback in the first quarter and was briefly sidelined for treatment on his Achilles tendon, but quickly returned.
The injury exacerbated a pre-existing condition in his Achilles tendon, head coach Doc Rivers said after losing Game 3, 121-118 in overtime.
“I think I’ve torn my Achilles tendon again, so we’ll see how it goes.” Rivers said this after the loss.. “Honestly, Dame was really struggling. In extra time, he literally said, ‘I’ll be the decoy.’ It’s not going to explode.’ So I thought just having Dame there was huge for us. ”
Lillard injured his Achilles tendon in the Bucks’ final regular-season game against the Orlando Magic on April 14.
The injury was severe enough that he was forced to miss several practices leading up to the Bucks’ playoff run. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Without their All-Star duo, the Bucks fell behind by 10 points in Game 4.
Only 13 times in NBA history has a team come back from a 3-1 deficit to win a series.
Both of the most recent 3-1 upsets came from the Denver Nuggets in 2020, the first time they’ve done it multiple times in a single playoff run.
The Nuggets defeated the Utah Jazz in the first round from a 3-1 deficit, and again came back in the second round to overwhelm the Los Angeles Clippers, but in the Western Conference Finals they lost to the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers. was defeated.
