The Portland Trail Blazers finally saw their unbeaten start to the season come to an end after the Miami Heat blew the game wide open in the second half en route to a 119-98 win at Moda Center. While Blazers fans will undoubtedly be disappointed at the result of the game, they will be more concerned about the status of Damian Lillard, who had been off to a torrid start to begin the year.

According to Chris Haynes, Lillard had to exit the Blazers' clash against the Heat with a right calf sprain, and he was unable to return to the game.

In the third quarter, with the Blazers still within striking distance of the Heat, 70-77, with five minutes left in the third period, Damian Lillard appeared to step on Heat forward Caleb Martin's foot, leading to a turnover. On the ensuing fastbreak, Lillard was seen to be limping as he crossed the halfcourt line, clearly hampered by some sort of a lower leg issue.

Per Wes Goldberg:

Dame exited the game still having led the Blazers in scoring, dropping in 22 points on 6-13 shooting from the field. This unfortunate early exit from the game comes off the heels of a blistering three-game stretch where Lillard dropped 41, 41 again, and 31 points in wins against the Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, and Denver Nuggets, respectively.

Thankfully, the injury is unrelated to the abdominal injury that limited Damian Lillard to a mere 29 games last season when he posted the worst shooting percentages of his career. With the season in its early legs, perhaps the Blazers are just erring on the side of caution, what with the Heat game being a (mostly) inconsequential game in October, especially with the team having high hopes of competing in the postseason dance.

Should Lillard need to miss time, Anfernee Simons will have to step up, along with Jerami Grant and Shaedon Sharpe, as the Blazers' primary creators on offense. Simons, in particular, is capable of insane scoring explosions on a nightly basis, having recently torched the Nuggets to the tune of a 22-point explosion during the third quarter of their game. Nonetheless, with the Western Conference being as tough as it's ever been, the Blazers will need Dame to be 100 percent sooner than later.