Damian Lillard suffered a worrying injury in the first quarter and the Milwaukee Bucks crashed to a 129-103 defeat against the Indiana Pacers, who now lead the series 3-1 and are in a strong position to seal their place in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The fifth meeting of the series between the Pacers (fourth in the East) and the Bucks (fifth) will be played on Tuesday, also in Indiana.
The defeat was not the worst thing of the night for the Bucks, who were overwhelmed and very affected by the injury that Lillard suffered alone in his left foot in the middle of the first quarter. The point guard needed help to leave the court because he could not support his leg.
Chris Haynes, a well-known NBA insider who has a very close contact with Lillard, said on X that it is feared that the player has torn his Achilles tendon.
The blow of such a serious injury would be especially painful for Lillard, who was playing only his third game after more than a month out of action with a blood clot in his right calf.
“He’s going to have an MRI tomorrow. To be honest, it’s not very promising…. This is tough, honestly. A blood clot followed by this. It’s just tough,” summarized a saddened Doc Rivers, Milwaukee’s coach.
In purely sporting terms, Indiana controlled the game from start to finish and never trailed in the game in a very choral and accurate performance by Rick Carlisle’s side, who dazzled with 60.2% shooting from the field.
Myles Turner, 23 points
Eight Pacers players scored more than 10 points, including Tyrese Haliburton (17 points, eight rebounds and 15 assists), Myles Turner (23 points) and Andrew Nembhard (20 points).
In Milwaukee, Giannis Antetokounmpo was once again left too alone with 28 points, 15 rebounds and six assists. Only Kevin Porter Jr. gave him some support with 23 points and six assists.
The winner of this tie will face the winner of the series between the Cavaliers (first) and the Heat (eighth), which Cleveland leads 3-0, in the conference semifinals
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