The games down the stretch of the NBA regular season are vastly important for the Milwaukee Bucks. If they want to hold onto the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, they will need to continue winning games as the Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks and Orlando Magic are all within 3.5 games of their spot.
They have a slight lull in their schedule, as a three-game stretch against teams under .500 begins on Tuesday night against the Washington Wizards. However, the Bucks will not be at full strength for that game.
Milwaukee announced that NBA All-Star point guard Damian Lillard will not be suiting up on Tuesday night. He is dealing with a groin strain the team announced, via the Associated Press and ESPN.
This will be the second consecutive game that Lillard will miss. He also sat out on Saturday against the Atlanta Hawks, a game Milwaukee came away victorious winning 122-113. Lillard missed that game because of personal reasons.
NBA NEWS & SCORES: Damian Lillard & Milwaukee Bucks Updates
It was the first time during the 2023-23 NBA regular season that the Bucks were able to get a victory without Lillard in the lineup. In the previous five games that he missed, Milwaukee lost all of them. They will be looking to make it two in a row without their starting point guard on Tuesday against the Wizards.
Other than Lillard, the Bucks should have nearly their entire rotation available to them. Giannis Anteotkounmpo, Khris Middleton and Patrick Beverley are all listed on the injury report, but all are probable to play.
On the season, Lillard is averaging 24.4 points, 7.1 assists and 4.4 rebounds in 35.3 minutes per game. He hasn’t been as efficient shooting the ball this season as in years past but has begun finding his groove, looking more like himself, especially from 3-point range, in March.
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