Damian Lillard survived a scary tweak of the knee early in the game to pull through for a key 100-94 win against the Boston Celtics on Sunday night. The Portland Trail Blazers star later admitted to tweaking his right knee while battling for position against Gordon Hayward, a bothersome injury that “kind of limited” him and forced him to play more as a facilitator than his usual style of hunting buckets.
Lillard does not expect the injury to keep him out for any games, but knows the Blazers will closely monitor his situation.
“I know it’s going to be sore as hell tomorrow,” said Lillard, according to Joe Freeman of The Oregonian.
Damian Lillard posted 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting along with a season-high 12 assists and five rebounds — a line good enough to give the Blazers a statement W against one of the best teams in the East.
The Blazers have gotten off to a 10-3 start to the season and are bound to make a push for the top spot, but they will have to watch Lillard's injury closely and hope to prevent any future damage to his knee if they want to be in the hunt for any of the top four seeds in the West.
Portland got the nod for the third seed earlier last season, but was swept by the lower-seeded New Orleans Pelicans in the first round of the 2017-18 playoffs — a catastrophe they'll be looking to mend this season.
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