Damian Lillard aggravated an Achilles injury in the fourth quarter of the Milwaukee Bucks' overtime loss to the Indiana Pacers in Game 3.

Lillard, who finished with 28 points, did not take a shot in overtime.

"I just wanted to be on the floor in case opportunity came up or however I could help," said Lillard.

Lillard added that his Achilles had been sore since the Bucks' regular season finale.

With the Bucks down 2-1 in the series, Game 4 is on Sunday.

"We're gonna get back and just have to get ahead of it because that's not something that you want to play with ... we have a couple of days to start and try to get ahead of it. Get it feeling better and get ready for Sunday," said Lillard. 

Juwan Howard will be an assistant coach with the Brooklyn Nets next season, sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Howard was most recently fired by Michigan after five seasons with the program.

Howard joins Steve Hetzel on Jordi Fernandez's staff. 

Liam McNeeley has committed to Connecticut as part of the incoming class of 2024.

McNeeley, ESPN's No. 9 prospect in the class of 2024, was named a McDonald's All American after helping Montverde Academy to a perfect 33-0 season

McNeeley, a 6-foot-7 wing from Richardson, Texas, picked the Huskies over Arkansas, Kentucky, Alabama, Michigan and others. 

McNeeley is considered arguably the best perimeter shooter in his class. 

McNeeley was a projected lottery pick in ESPN's first 2025 mock draft, released in January.

The NBA and ESPN have agreed on the framework on a new broadcast deal that will allow the network to retain The Finals.

ESPN and TNT had exclusive negotiating rights with the NBA until this week.

ESPN became home of the NBA Finals in 2002 after they replaced NBC.

The NBA and Amazon Prime Video have the framework of a deal to make the streaming service one of the primary broadcast partners for the league over the next decade.

Prime Video will at least join ESPN as an NBA broadcast partner, as Disney also has a framework of a deal in place with the league. ESPN/ABC are expected to retain the Finals as part of its new deal. In one arrangement, ESPN will cut down from around 100 games to around 80, according to executives briefed on the talks.

Prime Video’s package will include significant regular season and postseason games, perhaps even some conference finals. Prime could broadcast Thursday night games beginning in January as a continuation of its sports programming schedule coming out of the NFL season.

The deal will begin in 25-26 and last for at least a decade.

The NBA is finishing up nine-year deals that pay it $2.6 billion on average from ESPN and TNT. In 2007, the NBA extended with ESPN and TNT on a deal worth $930 million per year through 15-16. The deal beginning in 2002 was worth $766 million per year.

The NBA would like to have at least three companies involved in its new deals, which will leave TNT to likely face off with NBC for the final package. Warner Bros. Discovery, parent company of TNT, has the right to match deals.

What happened in three snapshots in the NBA Playoffs on Thursday, April 25, 2024.

The Milwaukee Bucks have ruled out Giannis Antetokounmpo for Game 3 with a left calf strain.

Antetokounmpo previously missed Games 1 and 2. Antetokounmpo hasn't played since straining his left calf in an April 9 victory over the Boston Celtics. 

Khris Middleton also has a sprained right ankle that kept him from practicing Thursday and puts his status in question for Game 3 in Indianapolis.

When Kevin Durant was diagnosed with a torn Achilles tendon during Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals, he feared he would never return to his superstar form.

"This is career-ending, I'm done," Durant recalled thinking.

"That's what I was thinking," he told ESPN, "because that's all I was hearing, that this s--- is over."

Durant signed with the Brooklyn Nets that offseason, sat out the entire 19-20 season and then reestablished himself as one of the world's best players during the 2021 playoffs.

Durant played 75 games in the regular season this past season and was generally more reliable than his younger co-stars in Devin Booker and Bradley Beal.

"My whole being has been committed to playing basketball. I didn't think it was time yet. It's that simple," Durant said. "And when I'm that committed to something, I didn't even think about anything else but, like, when are we starting recovery? As soon as it happened, everybody wanted to cry with me. I did that for a second, crying, because everybody else was crying, and then I'm like, 'When are we doing surgery? When can I start my recovery process?' And that's how it was, man. I'm ready to get back, quick."

Durant's return was not just fueled by his love for the game, but something existential.

"I think all these guys love it," he said. "It just feels like life or death for me since day one growing up. If I wasn't doing this, what the f--- else am I doing? Until the wheels fall off. I can't just not be the best basketball player that I can be every day. That's been the mentality in my head since I was 8 years old.

"I had no other choice but to go back to work. I wasn't going to go back and be like, 'Mom, Dad, Bro, Sis, Godfather -- all my whole family that has been trusting in me and believing in me that I'm living for and I'm pushing this family name for every day -- [and say] 'I'm done, I tore my Achilles.' Like, what the f--- you mean? You're done? You can't be done."