Lillard makes winning basket in his return from concussion protocol

MILWAUKEE — Damian Lillard has dealt with all kinds of injuries through his 13 seasons in the NBA, but he'd never had to worry about recovering from a concussion before.

His return from concussion protocol put the Milwaukee Bucks guard back in a much more familiar situation.

Lillard came back after missing three matches and made a game-winning layup with 3.9 seconds left to give the Bucks a 101-100 victory over Houston on Monday, snapping the Rockets' five-game winning streak.

"That was actually the first time in my life just getting a concussion," Lillard said after the game. "I've played football. I box all the time. I've been in some situations where you would expect I'd have had a concussion before, but it was the first time.

"Usually, when something is wrong with me, I feel I can will myself through it and I'm alright. This was probably one of the first times in my life, and definitely in my NBA career, where I was like, 'something is off.' It was a little frustrating, because I didn't have a choice but to go through the process. I just had to acknowledge the way I was feeling, and I knew I wasn't all the way right."

Lillard had an up-and-down performance on his return. He contributed 18 points and 10 assists, but missed all six of his 3-point attempts and couldn't convert some contested layups that he would normally hit.

But, when the game was on the line, Lillard delivered, as he has done throughout his career.

"I think he's one of the best to ever do it — like finishing the game," Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo said.

Lillard's closing ability had Bucks coach Doc Rivers drawing comparisons to one of the game's greatest shooters ever.

"Dame just has great courage, you know?" Rivers said. "Reminds me a lot of Ray Allen in that way. Ray didn't have a lot of bad shooting nights, but when he had one, if you had one shot to make, you still wanted to go to him. And that's how you feel about Dame. Like, whether he's on fire or not, he just has this thing in him that he believes that he should take the last shot and make the last shot. And he does it over and over."

The Bucks trailed 100-99 when Lillard had the ball in his hands in the closing seconds. He drove into the lane, split two defenders and made the driving layup that put Milwaukee ahead for good.

"I could feel it was one of those games where I needed to keep going, keep my foot on the gas down the stretch," Lillard said. "It just came down to those last two plays. I got one to go, and we were able to get a stop on the other end."

It was the type of moment that Lillard so badly wanted to deliver during his difficult week working to get back on the floor.

"I tried to really speed my way through the protocols so I could get back," Lillard said. "I think it ended up kind of working against me. I did a 30-minute bike ride, 30-minute treadmill, 30 minutes on the court, all in one day, just to try to see how I felt. I saw that I wasn't right. And then from there, I was doing 45-minute workouts on the court, just trying to do that fast-paced, fewer breaks, stuff like that just to push myself to try to make up for not being on the floor."

Magic eclipse Suns

Franz Wagner matched a season high with 32 points, as the visiting Orlando Magic won their sixth straight game, beating the Phoenix Suns 109-99 on Monday.

Anthony Black posted season bests of 20 points and nine assists, and Goga Bitadze had a season-high 17 points to go with 10 rebounds for Orlando, which led by as many as 19 points and held its opponent under 100 points for a sixth straight game.

Phoenix trailed 94-78 before battling back to cut the deficit to 98-91 on Devin Booker's 3-pointer with 3:36 remaining. Orlando answered with a 7-2 run to seal the victory.

Jalen Suggs chipped in 12 points for the Magic, who improved to 2-6 on the road, compared to 7-0 at home.

The Suns played their sixth straight game without Kevin Durant, and the fourth consecutive one missing Bradley Beal. Both All-Stars are out with left calf strains.

Tyus Jones led Phoenix with 18 points and eight assists. Booker and Grayson Allen had 17 points apiece.

Agencies Via Xinhua