It's not just the Lakers and Suns who are at stake, but also the Bucks....
According to Shams, Lillard has suffered a Grade 1 Achilles tendon strain and is unlikely to play in Series G4. Lillard has been enduring Achilles tendon pain for the past few weeks and the injury worsened yesterday in G3.
In the last two minutes of the first quarter of yesterday's game, Lillard broke through to the basket and twisted his ankle, and then returned to the locker room.
Lillard played 44 minutes in the game, shooting 6-of-20 and 4-of-12 three-pointers, scoring 28 points on 12 free throws, and Lillard did not score a point in the crucial overtime, and finally the team did not lose G3 118-121, and fell behind 1-2 in the series.
According to medical expert Jeff Stotts, a first-degree Achilles tendon strain, although a minor injury, can cause long-term distress, so playing with the injury is risky, with the average absence time of the injury being 10 days and the average number of games missed is 4.2.
Without Lillard, the Bucks really can't play, and in the past 3 games, Lillard has contributed:
- G1, 35 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists
- G2, 34 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists
- G3, 28 points, 8 assists, 3 steals
So the current form is really not good for the Bucks, not only is the series 1-2 down, the team's three giants have suffered varying degrees of injury impact, and the next game of the Bucks may not have both Lillard and Antetokounmpo.
First of all, he suffered a left calf strain against the Celtics on April 10, and according to the MRI after the game, he showed a soleus strain in the calf, and has been out for 18 days so far, and has not played in the last three playoff games.
According to Shams's revelations two days ago, the alphabet is still unable to run and fight, and can only do some simple jump shooting training, Rivers is very skeptical about whether the alphabet can play in G4, and the official update of the Bucks today is a small probability of playing.
The second is Middleton, G2 Middleton twisted his ankle again in that game, his playing state before the last game was still doubtful, but he still insisted on playing the last game with an injury, and scored 42 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists, the official news of the Bucks is that there is a high probability of playing in the next game.
Finally, Lillard, the official news is that he has Achilles tendonitis in his right foot, and he has a small probability of playing in the next game.
So in the next away game G4, the Bucks are likely to face no letter + Lillard at the same time, and such a game can only hope for a miracle. In the event of another loss, the Pacers will have three match points in their hands, either forcing the Bucks' core players to force injuries to the game, or they will face another first-round blackout.
Back in the offseason last year, after being black-eight by the Heat 4-1 in the first round, the Bucks replaced Holiday with Lillard, which was called the "finale" at the time, and the Bucks also became the top two seeds for the championship this season.
But this season, at least in the regular season, this recruitment did not meet expectations, the team's defense plummeted, the record did not rise but fell, Lillard's efficiency dropped sharply compared to the previous season, and the team almost fell out of the top four in the East.
The test of the success of this deal is the playoffs, but competitive sports only look at the results and not the process, and the Bucks are the biggest beneficiaries of the Nets' injuries, but now the debt needs to be repaid.
Will the first set of grams happen to the Bucks again this year?