Damian Lillard had a full practice, but Giannis Antetokounmpo didn’t participate in live drills on Friday as the Milwaukee Bucks continued preparing for Sunday’s playoff opener against the Indiana Pacers.
Lillard has been dealing with a sore adductor that affected him during the last weekend of the regular season, while Antetokounmpo missed the Bucks’ final three regular-season games due to a strained left calf.
Although Bucks President Peter Feigin confirmed that Antetokounmpo won’t be back for Sunday’s game, coach Doc Rivers hasn’t completely ruled out the two-time MVP for the start of the series.
“I don’t know yet,” Rivers said on Friday. “We’re still hoping. He hasn’t done anything. Would we throw him out there? Yeah, we would. For us, still, we’re not sure.”
Rivers mentioned that Antetokounmpo was at the gym on Friday but only participated in walk-through activities, avoiding anything live.
Antetokounmpo has had impressive performances against Indiana during the regular season, but his likely absence means the Bucks will have to rely more on Lillard, who had a full practice for the first time this week.
“I felt solid,” Lillard commented after practice.
Lillard had missed a game against Oklahoma City earlier in April and struggled in shooting in the next game against Orlando. He has been dealing with an Achilles issue along with the sore adductor.
“It was good to get back into it,” Lillard said. “It’s going to take me that much time. I needed today, and then tomorrow will be a better day. Even if it’s not live, I’ll just feel better after getting into action and be ready for Sunday.”
This marks Lillard’s return to the playoffs after missing out with the Portland Trail Blazers for the last two years. Despite being a seven-time all-NBA guard, he hasn’t made it past the first round since Portland reached the Western Conference finals in 2019.
