Bucks' Damian Lillard Reportedly Set to Return in Game 2 or 3 amid Blood Clot Recovery

The Milwaukee Bucks are reportedly getting back Damian Lillard this week.

According to ESPN's Shams Charania, Lillard is expected to return to action in either Game 2 of the team's Eastern Conference first-round matchup against the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday or Game 3 on Friday after being cleared by doctors of his deep vein thrombosis and taken off blood-thinning medication.

Per that report, Lillard has been "doing full-contact workouts since Thursday, when he was cleared from that blood clot. Now it's just about ramping up conditioning, gaining basketball stamina. ... Doctors really told the Bucks this recovery was unprecedented. This had never been seen before."

He last played for the Bucks on March 18 before being sidelined with the diagnosis. When healthy, he's averaged 24.9 points and 7.1 assists per game, shooting 37.6 percent from three.

"We're thrilled for Dame," Bucks general manager Jon Horst said in a statement earlier this week when it was announced that Lillard was medically cleared of the blood clot. "Our priority has always been Dame's health. We're grateful to our medical team for diagnosing and treating his DVT at an early stage, and for the world-renown hematology specialists at Mayo Clinic. Every step of Dame's recovery has been at the direction of world-class medical professionals and their specific and strict protocols that have allowed for Dame's safe and healthy return to play."

Getting Lillard back for the playoffs—and relatively early on in a series against a Pacers team that has become quite the rival for the Bucks in recent years—is huge for a team that has a championship-level duo in the veteran point guard and Giannis Antetokounmpo but hasn't quite reached those levels in their two seasons together.

"This could have been career-threatening," Bucks coach Doc Rivers told reporters on Thursday. "Or it was. The fact there's a very good chance he's going to play in the playoffs for us, that's a godsend."