From the moment Lopez elected to undergo surgery, the team held out hope the 7-foot defensive linchpin could return to action this season. It’s a belief the 33-year-old holds in his massive hands as well. “It’s been great,” he said of his return to the road before the Bucks’ 131-107 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night at the Footprint Center. “The process and situation I guess are unfortunate, but our team of guys, Andrew (Small), ‘Wiz’ (Michael Davie), Scotty (Faust), Troy (Flanagan), everyone, they’ve done a good job of giving me a program and we’ve stuck to it, worked with it, and it’s been successful. So we’re in a good place right now.”