Bucks' Damian Lillard reacts to dominating with nasty-looking eye injury
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After the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Atlanta Hawks 127-121, Bucks All-Star Damian Lillard discussed the elbow shot he took to the face and its effects. He finished with 23 points on 9-of-18 attempts, five rebounds, four assists, and two steals in the win, while Giannis Antetokounmpo reached a triple-double (26 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists). Then, Lillard talked about his injury during his media availability.
Lillard sustained the eye injury against Hawks center Clint Capela in the first quarter of Tuesday's win, per The Athletic's Eric Nehm.
"I went up to try to help rebound off the glass, and I was behind the guy and his arm just came down and his elbow — the point of his elbow hit right on my eyeball," Lillard said. "Once I hit, I knew it was either going to swell up or turn black. It was just a matter of time, but my vision — I've never had my get blurry like that."
Lillard knew his eyes were going to look bad based on his vision.
"So, I opened my eye and then I saw how it was blurry and it was like [seeing] triple damn near, so I called for a sub," Lillard added. "And I got to the bench, and I don't know what happened, but they made me go back in, and that was it. But I was never about to come out of the game or nothing."
By the end of the night, Lillard says his eye improved.
"I think it got better," Lillard replied. "It just was hard to keep my eye open. My right one, I could see clear, but this one was blurry. And from the impact, this side of my face was just a little irritated."
It didn't prevent Bucks’ Damian Lillard from having an impactful night. He and Antetokounmpo's scoring led six Bucks players in double figures, including Kyle Kuzma (17 points, 10 rebounds), Gary Trent Jr. (15 points), Kevin Porter Jr. (15 points), and Brook Lopez (13 points, 13 rebounds).
Jason Kidd endorses Giannis Antetokounmpo before Bucks win
Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd sang Bucks All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo's praises before facing the team he coached when the All-Star was a rookie. Kidd gave Antetokounmpo's offense a ringing endorsement.
Kidd discussed Antetokounmpo's growth.
"Everybody talks about the three, but points are points," Kidd said. "When you talk about what he does in transition, what he does in the half court, being able to shoot the (mid-range)… You know he wants get to the paint."
The Bucks beat the Mavericks 132-117 before their win against the Hawks and will face the Mavs again in a rematch on Wednesday.
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