Gary Trent Jr.'s injury and 4 other takeaways from Bucks' preseason loss to Pistons

Damian Lillard's hot start provided some optimism

There was a lot of talk about Damian Lillard not being the player he once was during the offseason, and he certainly heard plenty of it. Looking to start things off on the right foot, Lillard came out of the gates aggressively offensively against the Pistons, catching firing and giving the Milwaukee Bucks a commanding lead early on.

In the first quarter, Lillard scored 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 4-of-5 from deep to go along with three assists. The guard looked to be in incredible shape as he moved around the court, and his confidence in his deep shot was undoubtedly still present. It was exactly the type of fire everyone in Milwaukee wanted to see him play with from day one.

While he cooled off in the second quarter, which was pretty much the story for everyone, it was a welcoming sign to see Lillard assert himself early with Antetokounmpo and Middleton out. It'll be a crucial objective for him to keep this up throughout the preseason to keep up this aggressiveness every single time he gets on the floor.

It would be nice to see him get reps with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton, but time will tell if that comes to fruition.