Bucks' Damian Lillard Gives Injury Update on Nagging Calf After Playing vs Bulls

The star point guard gave an update on his calf, which has forced him to miss multiple games this season.

Dec 28, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard (0) moves the ball against the Chicago Bulls during the second half at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images / Matt Marton-Imagn Images

The Milwaukee Bucks have had to go through multiple games this season without their star point guard. Damian Lillard has missed seven games this season, including four of the last five games. He finally was able to suit up against the Chicago Bulls and put up 29 points in his return.

Milwaukee ended up losing to the Bulls on Saturday despite Lillard's big game. The Bucks have now lost their last two games. Giannis Antetokounmpo also missed the game against Chicago and has now missed each of the last four games for Milwaukee. They just haven't had their star players available.

Following the loss to Chicago, Lillard was asked how his calf was doing after he missed the prior four games. He gave an optimistic update.

“It was a mild strain to begin with,” Lillard said. “I did it against Atlanta in Vegas. It happened against Atlanta. I just tweaked it in the championship game to where it was like I’m going to miss — depending on when our next one is and how I feel — I’m going to miss that one and the one after that."

“But we got on that. We had been on top of that right away, so even when I tried to get back on the court, it was like a little bit tight because I hadn’t been moving, but it was alright. I didn’t have no issues.”

It's good that Lillard called it a mild strain. That means that his being able to get back on the court shouldn't make it worse. Calf injuries have the tendency to linger, so it's good that Lillard was able to get back on the court as soon as he was. He doesn't seem to think that this one will linger, either.

Having Lillard back is good for the Bucks. Now, they need to worry about getting their other superstar back on the court. Having both Lillard and Antetokounmpo on the court makes them an extremely dangerous team to face. With how volatile the East is, they can't afford to lose many games in a row.

The Bucks will almost certainly make a move near the trade deadline to help increase the depth of the team. They need some help coming off the bench to better help the team when injuries like this happen. Expect them to make one or two trades to fix that.

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