Damian Lillard makes Bucks debut, scores 14 in preseason win over Lakers

Damian Lillard made his Milwaukee Bucks debut on Sunday in a preseason game against the Los Angeles Lakers, proving to millions of Bucks fans that the partnership between Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo is not a dream and is in fact very, very real.

It was the first time Lillard took the floor with a franchise other than the Trail Blazers, donning the Bucks' signature green and white. And if Dame had any butterflies in his stomach about making his debut, he didn't show it. He scored 14 points with three assists, three steals and two rebounds in the Bucks' 108-97 win over the Lakers. He played 22 minutes and was a 6-of-6 from the free-throw line.

Dame did well, which was expected, but it was his work alongside Antetokounmpo that really stood out.

Antetokounmpo had great things to say about playing alongside Dame after the game, though he was pretty surprised at how hard the Lakers were defending Dame.

"I'll be very honest, I've never been this open," Antetokounmpo said. "And first of all, I've never seen anybody being double-teamed from the first possession of the game. It was a surprise. It's a preseason game. Not a playoff game, not a regular-season game, not an in-season tournament game. It's insane."

Antetokounmpo's surprise is a little bit funny. Like a dog that doesn't quite understand how big he is when he tries to sit on your lap, Antetokounmpo maybe doesn't understand how the combo of him and Lillard looks from the outside. To him, he's just Giannis playing basketball with this great new star. But to fans and players, it's two enormously talented players joining forces and already making each other better. That's a scary prospect for other teams, so, of course, opponents are going to come out strong and try to neutralize any part of that advantage.

They can try all they want, but Giannis and Dame already look like a dynamite duo. Just imagine how in sync they'll be once they've played more than one game together.