Milwaukee Bucks star Damian Lillard left Sunday night’s NBA playoff game against the Indiana Pacers with a lower leg injury and will not return.
With 6:11 left in the first quarter, Gary Trent Jr. missed a 3 from the right wing. The long rebound bounced off the floor near the top of the key, and Lillard made a break for it. As he broke back toward the ball, his legs went out from underneath him. Lillard managed to tap the ball to Trent for an offensive rebound but immediately crumpled to the floor.
As he lay on his back, Lillard reached for his left foot with both arms and sat on the other end of the floor as the Bucks committed a foul to get a stoppage in play. Once that stoppage occurred, Kyle Kuzma and Doc Rivers made their way to Lillard and helped him to his feet. Lillard refused to put any weight on his left foot and hopped off the floor on his right foot and went directly to the locker room.
The team announced via social media that he would not return. A league source told The Athletic that the severity of Lillard’s injury is not expected to be known until Monday.
Damian Lillard (left lower leg injury) will not return to tonight’s game.
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) April 28, 2025
Lillard, 34, missed significant time late in the season with a deep-vein thrombosis in his right calf, which was supposed to knock him out for the rest of the season. He returned to action in Game 2, and in two full games played in the playoffs, he’s averaging 10.5 points, 6.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game on .240/.188/.857 shooting splits.
Before exiting the game, Lillard had two assists and two rebounds, going 0-for-2 from the field.
This story will be updated.
(Photo: Stacy Revere / Getty Images)