The Portland Trail Blazers revealed on Wednesday night that Damian Lillard will be leaving the bubble and heading to Portland soon for further evaluation of his injured right knee.
Lillard injured his knee during the Blazers’ Game 4 defeat to the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday. During the third quarter, Lillard pulled up for a shot but landed awkwardly on his right knee. He left the game to get an MRI and didn’t return, and after a second MRI on Tuesday he was diagnosed with a knee sprain. Because it’s a non-contact injury, the Blazers are likely being extra careful and thorough with their star by sending him back to Portland for further evaluation.
Lillard was already out for Game 5 versus the Lakers, but his trip to Portland means he’s likely going to miss any other games the Blazers happen to play, at least in the first round. Wednesday’s Game 5 was postponed due to the walkout of NBA players over the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and has not officially been rearranged.
The Blazers were fueled into the playoffs during the seeding games by a dominant Lillard, but he’s sputtered a bit since the playoffs officially started. Lillard averaged 37.6 points per game on 49.7 percent shooting across eight seeding games.
In four games versus the Lakers, he’s averaged 24.3 points per game on 40.6 percent shooting.
Even with Lillard slumping in the playoffs, the Blazers would certainly rather have him on the court than not.
Now down their All-Star point guard and down 1-3 in their first round series against the No. 1 seeded Lakers, the Trail Blazers are currently waiting to see when play will resume.
Lillard had been taking part in brightly earlier than his harm, carrying his group into the playoffs throughout the seeding spherical held in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, and being unanimously voted because the bubble’s MVP. In the ultimate three seeding video games, Lillard had 51, 61 and 42 factors, respectively. He has averaged 30.5 factors contained in the bubble because the season resumed July 30, that common second within the league solely behind Houston’s James Harden, who’s averaging 33 factors.
