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Bucks Finalize Damian Lillard Availability for Game 1

Matt Levine|
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Milwaukee Bucks

The Milwaukee Bucks will be taking on the Indiana Pacers as the NBA postseason gets started. The Pacers hold home-court advantage entering this series, putting Milwaukee at a minor disadvantage right away.

But the Bucks believe that they can compete with the Pacers in this series, and they are using last season as the main motivation. The Pacers took down Milwaukee in the playoffs last year, winning in six games, so the Bucks will be out for some redemption this time around.

However, the Bucks will be without star guard Damian Lillard for the start of this playoff series. Lillard has been dealing with a serious blood clot issue for the past few weeks and will miss at least Game 1 of the series.

Lillard has been cleared to return to the court, but he is still ramping things up to return. The star guard will miss Game 1 of the series, but could always make his return down the line.

More Bucks news: Predicting When Bucks' Damian Lillard Will Be Available in Playoffs

The star guard opened up about it all just before the start of the playoffs.

"Obviously there's people with way worse issues than I've dealt with, so I don't want to be dramatic about it, but you just never know when something could come up and change your life," Lillard said Friday. "It's been guys like Chris Bosh who dealt with this and then it's another issue and it could be a career-ending thing, so I think you just can't take days and opportunities and things in your life for granted."

If the Bucks can get Lillard back within the first few games of this playoff series, it could change everything. Milwaukee wants to make a statement against the Pacers, and Lillard could help them do just that.

The Bucks took three of four games from the Pacers during the regular season this year, all with Lillard in the lineup. If the Bucks want to advance in the postseason, they will need a total team effort, whether Lillard eventually rejoins them sometime during the playoffs.

More Bucks news:

Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo Talks Massive Pressure to Win Second Championship

Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo Uses Tom Cruise to Explain Playoff Plan

Bucks' Bobby Portis Addresses Challenges Faced This Season Before Playoff Push

For more news and notes on the Milwaukee Bucks, head on over to Milwaukee Bucks on SI.

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Matt Levine
MATT LEVINE

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