The Milwaukee Bucks just bested the Atlanta Hawks by 6 points tonight. Giannis was on fire as he dropped a 26-point triple-double tonight. But his stellar performance was overshadowed tonight. What could overshadow a performance like that? It was a gruesome injury to Damian Lillard that saw him do his best Michael Bisping impression, as he could only see out of one eye.

Even still, Lillard played 36 minutes, more than anyone on the Bucks squad tonight. Dame suffered this injury in the first quarter, and he said his vision was compromised immediately.

“I went up to try to help rebound off the glass. I was behind the guy, and his arm just came down, and his elbow – the point of his elbow hit right on my eyeball. 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 vision get blurry like that,” said Dame.

A cursory glance at his stats would lead you to think that Dame wasn’t affected by the injury at all. But post-game, he revealed that keeping his right eye open was a struggle due to the impact. “It got better, it just was hard to keep my eyes open,” he explained. “My right [eye] could see clear, this one was just kind of blurry… it was just from the impact. This side of my face was just a little irritated.”

His 2-10 shooting makes a little more sense now. After all, those are abysmal stats for a sharpshooter like him. But we can cut him some slack, considering the circumstances. Most players in his position wouldn’t even attempt a 3-pointer when they’re practically blind in one eye, let alone make them.

Nevertheless, it’s the team’s fortune that counts. And this win takes the Bucks to 8-2 in their last 10 NBA games. What a turnaround from their 2-8 start to this season!

It hasn’t been an easy haul for the Bucks recently. They started the season off horribly. But as soon as they turned their fortunes around, the NBA suspended Bobby Portis Jr. for 25 games! The suspension was a huge blow to their team’s morale and depth. But they’ve still persevered to maintain a 6-1 record since the All-Star break and Bobby’s suspension. In light of this, Damian Lillard has some thoughts on his team’s recent displays.

Damian Lillard commends the Bucks after maintaining a winning record through adversity

The Milwaukee Bucks seem to be peaking at the right time in the regular season. They now hold a 35-25 record in the Eastern Conference, sitting as the 4th seed after defeating the Hawks. Things seem to be finally falling into place for the Bucks now.

“It feels good because it’s happening at the right time,” Damian Lillard said to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

“We’ve had a lot of times where it feels like we’re hitting our stride, and then we have a few bumps, or we have some injuries…I think our spirit is as good as it’s been all year, just throughout the team, and it’s happening at the right time. We gotta hold on to that and continue to build on that,” finished Dame.

And he’s absolutely right! If they keep their current form up, their playoff spot is more or less secure. And we feel the mid-season signing of Kyle Kuzma will only help revitalize the squad as the season enters its final stretch. Doc Rivers’ men have indeed done well to battle adversity this season.

But the work isn’t over, the job isn’t finished for the Milwaukee Bucks. The postseason will really determine how successful this season was for the Bucks. But given the quality at their disposal and the grit these players have, we can see them making a deep playoff run!