Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard has been downgraded to questionable on the team's injury report before the Blazers face the Chicago Bulls, Rose Garden Report author Sean Highkin wrote in a Friday tweet.
Center Jusuf Nurkic has been downgraded to doubtful. Forward Nassir Little has been upgraded to probable.
Lillard was listed as “probable” on Thursday as he dealt with tightness in his right calf. He was last inactive in a game against the New Orleans Pelicans earlier this month, when he was ruled out of the 17-point loss with a calf injury. Double-digit scoring nights from seven players weren't enough to carry the Blazers past a 41-point night from Pelicans forward Trey Murphy III, who earned his career-high as he knocked down 13 of his 20 shot attempts and nine of his 14 3-point shots.
Jusuf Nurkic missed all five shot attempts against Chicago while pulling down two boards and grabbing one steal.
Chicago earned an eight-point victory over the Trail Blazers the last time the two teams took the court against one another in an early-February matchup. Damian Lillard poured on 40 points in just over 40.5 minutes of play, doing all he could to counter the 36 points scored by Bulls guard Zach LaVine and the 27 scored by forward DeMar DeRozan.
Blazers guard Anfernee Simons, who sat out of Wednesday's game against the Utah Jazz with right foot soreness, added 27 points as the Blazers tried to stop a comeback victory on Chicago's home court.
Three players are listed as “day-to-day” on Chicago's injury report by ESPN. Guards Javonte Green and Alex Caruso are dealing with knee and foot injuries, respectively, while DeRozan works through a quad injury.
The Blazers will tip off against the Chicago Bulls at 7 p.m. PDT on Friday in the Moda Center. The game will be broadcasted on Root Sports Plus.
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