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Adrian Griffin says Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo will finally suit up in preseason against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday
After weeks of anticipation and brewing excitement, the NBA world will finally glimpse the league's latest star duo—Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo—when the Milwaukee Bucks take on the Los Angeles Lakers this Sunday. Bucks head coach Adrian Griffin confirmed this development in an appearance on ESPN's NBA Today.
New-look Bucks
The Bucks shocked the rest of the NBA when they swung a trade for the seven-time All-Star and seven-time All-NBA team member. Although the Bucks lost two key cogs in Jrue Holiday and Grayson Allen, Lillard's addition solves many of the Bucks' woes on offense, especially in crunch time when teams tend to collapse on Giannis.
Lillard is coming off another spectacular season where he averaged 32.2 points and 7.3 assists. However, Portland failed to make it to the NBA Playoffs, prompting Lillard to request to be traded away from the Trail Blazers—the only team he's played for the last 11 seasons.
Bucks' consistency
Lillard has been with the Bucks for only a few weeks, but he's already impressed with the professionalism and commitment every single player has shown.
"It's early, but I would say it's the consistency that I see," Lillard said in an interview with The Athletic's Eric Nehm.
"Typically, everybody's excited in the beginning, but then you have a couple tough days, you get a little tired, and then the mentality changes, like being in the weight room and getting your shots up. Here, I'm impressed about how it's every day, and it's not loud, it's not extra; it's just everybody show up and do it. You always see somebody in the weight room, you see somebody on the table, you see somebody getting their shots up, we practice hard, they're getting in the cold tub."
