Point guard Damian Lillard and the Milwaukee Bucks appear to have found their footing a bit since the NBA returned from its annual All-Star break last weekend. Lillard is looking more and more comfortable in his new threads, and the Bucks have picked up impressive wins over the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Philadelphia 76ers to open up the unofficial second half of the campaign.

Coming into the season, expectations were sky high for the new-look Bucks, led by Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo, and now, Lillard is getting one hundred percent honest on how he perceived those expectations leading into the year.

“I thought we were going to be how Boston is right now,” said Lillard, per Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. “But I think what I’ve learned is that some things take time, especially stuff that has a reward in the end. You can’t come into it and think that it’s just going to be all peaches and cream. We’ve had our ups and downs. We’ve had a coaching change. I haven’t completely settled in to finding who am I on this team. And that’s kind of a tough thing.”

Indeed, the Bucks and Celtics were expected to jockey for the top spot in the Eastern Conference by most pundits. Instead, Boston has held up their end of the bargain, while Milwaukee currently currently sits in third place. Of course, as Jimmy Butler reminded both Celtics and Bucks fans last postseason, regular-season wins don't mean much when the playoffs roll around.