All-Star guard Damian Lillard may be shut down for the rest of the common season, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Sources inform Charania that the Trail Blazers are leaning towards ending the season for Lillard, who missed Friday night time’s recreation with tightness in his proper calf.
Portland has been within the midst of a good Western Conference playoff race for most of the season, however a current downturn has dropped the group into thirteenth place.
The Blazers have misplaced seven of their final 10 video games — together with a 28-point defeat towards the Bulls Friday night time with Lillard, Jusuf Nurkic, Jerami Grant and Anfernee Simons all sidelined — to drop to 32-41, three-and-a-half video games out of the tenth spot.
Lillard is having one of his greatest seasons at age 32, averaging a career-high 32.2 PPG in 58 video games, together with 7.3 assists and 4.8 rebounds. He bounced again from core surgical procedure that restricted him to 29 video games final season and earned his seventh profession All-Star look.
Although Portland is sliding out of the postseason battle, it’s shifting up within the race for a excessive lottery choice. The Blazers presently personal the league’s sixth-worst document and are only a recreation and a half away from Orlando for the fifth-best lottery odds.
A choice to shut down Lillard, and presumably maintain out some of the opposite rotation members, may have a major impression on the Western Conference playoff image.
Portland will host the Thunder and Pelicans Sunday and Monday after which has two dwelling video games with the Kings to wind up the month. The Blazers will even face the Timberwolves, Grizzlies and Clippers earlier than the season ends.
Discussion about this post