Milwaukee - Damian Lillard's left Achilles tendon tear up, confirming the biggest fear of the Milwaukee Bucks after being helped by seven all-NBA guards on Sunday night.

The Bucks announced serious injuries after they received an MRI on Monday.

An injury that beat Lillard for the rest of the playoffs could also put his position next season in doubt. When Kevin Durant tore his Achilles tendon in the 2019 NBA final, he ended up missing the entire 2019-20 season.

The Bucks have been preparing for the result after Milwaukee lost 129-103 to the Indiana Pacers in Game 4, 129-103 to the Indiana Pacers in Game 4, trailing the Indiana Pacers 3-1 in the first round series of the Eastern Conference. Game 5 was Tuesday in Indianapolis.

Lillard's injury occurred in his third game since his deep vein thrombosis in his right leg returned.

“Honestly, it was a tough game,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said after Sunday’s game. "The blood clot, then this. It's the hard. That's why you have teammates and family around you. He's such a huge guy at basketball level, but more importantly, as a teammate, father, father and all that stuff."

Lillard, 34, was behind the 3-point line at the top of the key midway through the first quarter when the ball bounced towards him. Lillard used his left hand to push the ball towards teammate Gary Trent Jr. He continued to sit on the floor as the other end of the field resumed.

When Lillard stood up, he couldn't put the weight on his left leg. Eventually, he was helped to leave the court and enter the locker room.

“He’s one of the strongest people I know, so when he falls, you feel for him,” said Pat Connaughton, his teammate who plays with Milwaukee and Lillard and Lillard in Portland.

Lillard's toughness was from the start with the Bucks' last 14 regular season games, with deep vein thrombosis, his toughness, his first game, an abnormal clot inside a ship that condensed blood flowing back to the heart.

He was deprived of blood-soaked medicine and was cleared after the regular season to restore complete basketball activities. He missed the first game of the Pacers Series to return and then return in the second game.

"I respect him very much," said teammates and two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. "A lot of people don't see what the lady has to deal with, but we're around him every day, and it's hard. It's hard to be in his position. He's one of the hardest, toughest people I've ever experienced. That's why he's him."

Lillard ranked 10th in the NBA with scoring (24.9) and assists (7.1) this season, while winning his 10th All-Star Game. He made a very rapid return from deep vein thrombosis to rejoin his teammates for the playoffs.

Lillard said in a conversation with reporters before the playoffs that the doctor told him that his case was unusual.

“They were like, ‘We can’t see that’,” Lillard said at the time. "For me, I was like, it was another experience for me because I went there a lot of times and it was the same size. So I seemed like, it didn't seem special and then got to the point where it was, it got smaller and smaller."

Now he will face longer recovery when dealing with separate issues that require surgery.

"I believe he will overcome all the obstacles placed before him." "Everyone will be around him. No matter what obstacles there are for him, he will overcome them and we will help him overcome it."

Lillard's situation has continued with the Bucks' unlucky since winning the 2021 championship and was injured in the playoffs.

Khris Middleton missed the entire seven Eastern League semifinals in 2022 and lost to Boston with a sprained medial collateral ligament. Antetokounmpo bruised his lower back in his first playoff game in 2023 and didn't return until Game 4 of the first round series, where it lost 4-1 to Miami. In the Bucks' first round defeat of 4-2 last year, Antetokounmpo didn't play because of a calf strain at all, and Lillard missed two games due to a fatal weakness injury.