The Milwaukee Bucks coughed up a 20-point lead to lose Game 5 of their playoff series vs. the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night, bringing a tragic end to a season that once again culminated in a frustratingly early first-round exit. And to make matters worse, looming over it all was Bucks star point guard Damian Lillard, who suffered a year-ending Achilles tear in Game 4 after previously missing time with a bout of deep vein thrombosis. Just brutal stuff.
Ahead of the game, head coach Doc Rivers mentioned how Milwaukee was motivated to get a win that night in Lillard's honor. And after the fact, star Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo explained how disappointed he was that they didn't pull that off.
"What hurts me the most, I don't care about losing the game and all that. I felt like we owed this game to Dame," Giannis said. "That's what I felt. I felt like he came back maybe earlier than what he's supposed to, went down, sacrificed his body for us, and I felt like, as a team, win or lose, home or road, playoff game or no playoff game, the least we can do is show up and win a game for Dame."
Take a look at that heartbreaking quote below:
"Obviously it hurts that we didn't win the game, but it hurts more that we wasn't able to win the game for Dame" 🙏
— NBA TV (@NBATV) April 30, 2025
Giannis spoke on wanting to win Game 5 for Lillard, who suffered a season-ending torn achilles in Game 4 pic.twitter.com/6WBXyGQrsu
The Bucks now have a lot of questions to answer, especially as they relate to both Lillard and Giannis. Lillard can recover from the injury, but he's also 34, meaning age will likely play a factor in how he comes back.
And regarding Giannis, the team has no first-round picks until 2031, so the fear is that their star will want to leave in favor of a franchise where he can win. He's been pretty mum about that, though, so speculation probably won't do us any good; we'll just have to wait and see.
More NBA on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Giannis Antetokounmpo Dropped Sad Line About Damian Lillard After Losing Game 5.
