Damian Lillard injury: Bucks get star guard back Friday vs. Raptors after horrendous back-to-back

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The Milwaukee Bucks are coming off a pair of horrendous losses, but at least they’re getting Damian Lillard back in the lineup. The star guard has missed the past three games — a 122-133 win in Atlanta, followed by a 117-113 loss in Washington and a 111-101 loss against Memphis at home — because of a groin strain, and, with the postseason only a week and a half away, the second-place Bucks have only a two-game cushion in the loss column.

Lillard is available to play on Friday against the Toronto Raptors, according to 2:30 p.m. ET injury report.

Milwaukee has six games remaining on its regular-season schedule: vs. Toronto, vs. New York, vs. Boston, vs. Orlando, at Oklahoma City, at Orlando. Friday’s game is the Bucks’ last “easy” win — the severely shorthanded Raptors have lost 15 straight games, including Wednesday’s 133-85 bloodbath in Minnesota, the most lopsided loss in franchise history — but, given that what just happened against the undermanned Wizards and even more undermanned Grizzlies, it’s dangerous to assume that any win will come easily right now.

At 47-29, Milwaukee still has a 61% chance of finishing the regular season No. 2 in the Eastern Conference, according to playoffstatus.com. If it doesn’t get its act together soon, though, those odds could drop. The Cavaliers (46-31), Magic (45-31) and Knicks (45-31) are all two games behind the Bucks in the loss column.

Beyond the implications for playoff positioning, the stretch run is significant for Milwaukee because it would like to establish some kind of positive momentum. It has lost four of its past five games and has gone 6-8 in its last 14, but its numbers with its best players on the court suggest that it still has a high ceiling. The Bucks have outscored opponents by 14.9 points per 100 possessions in 594 minutes with their starting lineup of Lillard, Malik Beasley, Khris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez on the floor. That group has been elite at both ends, and the trio of Lillard, Middleton and Antetokounmpo has been dominant (+17 net rating…

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Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/damian-lillard-injury-bucks-get-star-guard-back-friday-vs-raptors-after-horrendous-back-to-back/

Author : James Herbert

Publish date : 2024-04-05 18:53:59

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