Milwaukee Bucks All-Star level guard Damian Lillard has been cleared of his deep vein thrombosis and is now not on blood-thinning medicine, in accordance with ESPN’s Shams Charania on Thursday.
Simply three weeks after being dominated out indefinitely resulting from blood clots, Lillard obtained outstanding and historic medical information by clearing the clot so shortly because of early detection and remedy.
Whereas Lillard gained’t play in Saturday’s Sport 1 in opposition to the Indiana Pacers, the Bucks guard may have a time frame to ramp up contact exercises forward of a return to basketball. No quick timeline has been set for his return.
I’m no physician, however leaving basketball out of this, it looks like a significant win for Lillard. As a fan of basketball, we’ve seen Chris Bosh should retire due to blood clots. The same well being scare lower brief the promising Defensive Participant of the Yr marketing campaign of younger phenom Victor Wembanyama this season as effectively.
It’s a outstanding win to get Lillard again on the ground usually. However in three weeks? That’s phenomenal work by everybody concerned.
On the court docket, there’s no denying that the Bucks will want Lillard’s providers sooner quite than later. With out Lillard, Milwaukee was a powerful 16-8. When the information of those blood clots surfaced, many had written the Bucks off for lifeless in a top-heavy Jap Convention.
Milwaukee drew a tremendously troublesome first-round matchup with the Pacers, who’re among the finest offensive groups within the Jap Convention. Fueled by level guard Tyrese Haliburton, the Pacers can flat-out run the ground and put the ball within the basket at an extremely fast clip, so Lillard’s offensive prowess can be wanted.
In line with FanDuel Sportsbook, the Bucks are a slight +140 underdog to get out of the primary spherical. It’s anticipated to be probably the most aggressive first-round collection within the East. In the event that they do escape the high-scoring Pacers, they’ll probably have a convention semifinals date with the Cleveland Cavaliers — who completed the season because the No. 1 seed within the East with the No. 1 offense within the NBA.
Lillard was averaging almost 25 factors per sport earlier than being dominated out. He averaged simply over seven assists per sport as effectively. The Bucks will definitely welcome all of that, as Giannis Antetokounmpo will want his Robin wholesome and out there to ensure that the Bucks to have actually any likelihood within the NBA Playoffs this season.
Nationally, the narrative surrounding the Jap Convention has been all concerning the Cavaliers, Boston Celtics and New York Knicks. It’s wonderful that Lillard is even medically out there to offer it a go, as a result of the Bucks may want one other miracle out of him to make noise on this postseason.