Damian Lillard faced the team that drafted him, and with whom he spent his whole 11-year career, for the first time.

Lillard and the Milwaukee Bucks fared well, but the Portland Trail Blazers fared poorly. Lillard finished with 31 points and four free throws to lead Milwaukee to a 118-112 victory at home.

“Once I walked in, I saw a lot of familiar faces,” Lillard said to reporters. “For a split second, I considered going to the visitors’ locker room.” ‘Man, this is a little strange,’ I thought. When we arrived to the court, I was surprised to see everyone. But as we started playing, I quickly forgot about it. Just as before, I didn’t expect it to be a huge deal or anything out of the ordinary, and it wasn’t.”

The Blazers really led by 26 points in the third quarter, 81-55. Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo (33 points, 16 rebounds), and the rest of the Bucks came to life at that point.

Antetokounmpo’s late tip-in broke a tie, and Lillard’s four free throws all came with less than 11 seconds remaining.

The Blazers are getting good performance from their veterans — Jerami Grant had 22 points and Malcolm Brogdon had 18 — but are still finding their way with new players. They’ve also dealt with a variety of injuries.

“To be a good team, a really good team, a contending team in this league, you’ve got to have composure,” said Blazers coach Chauncey Billups. “Our composure was good for the most part, but when it really really counted, we came unraveled a little bit.”