Bucks' Rivers Says 'Much More Hope' Damian Lillard Returns from Blood Clot This Season

There's "much more hope" that Milwaukee Bucks point guard Damian Lillard can return this season from deep vein thrombosis in his right calf, which has kept him out since March 18.

Head coach Doc Rivers delivered that news to reporters Thursday before his team's road win over the Philadelphia 76ers.

"He had a great report the other day. I think we even released that, I don't know if we did or not, but the numbers are phenomenal, and why mess with it?

"Our thing is, flying or anything could affect that. And so our thing was...we have much more hope today than we did three days ago, I can tell you that, and so we're gonna take everything that we can do to see if there's a way we can get him back."

Lillard has averaged 24.9 points and 7.1 assists this season.

Obviously, getting Lillard back this season would be a massive win for the team. Without Lillard, any chance the Bucks have of making a deep playoff run is remote at best, even with superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo leading the way.

Milwaukee is already facing an uphill battle on that front, with the team sitting tied for fifth place in the Eastern Conference led by two powerhouses in the first place Cleveland Cavaliers and the second place Boston Celtics, the defending NBA champions.

The Bucks haven't officially clinched the playoffs yet, but that's a mere formality with the team's magic number at just one with six games left. In simplest form, Milwaukee needs just one win in its final six games to get its spot.

As far as timing goes, the playoffs will start either April 19 or 20 for the Bucks. That doesn't give Lillard much time to return to the mix, although the optimism Rivers expressed certainly brings hope he could do so.

In the interim, the Bucks are rolling with Ryan Rollins as a starting guard. The 22-year-old has notably fared well of late, averaging 16.0 points and 3.6 assists per game.