Portland Trail Blazers star point guard Damian Lillard did not participate in Sunday's practice due to personal reasons but is expected to be ready for Monday night's game against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Lillard has been his usual self this season in averaging 26.9 points, 6.0 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game (per Basketball Reference), and that's helped the Blazers get off to a solid start. Consequently, it may have initially been concerning for Portland fans to hear that he missed practice.
However, it sounds like he'll be ready for the Western Conference showdown against the Clippers, according to Blazers beat reporter Casey Holdahl.
According to Terry Stotts, @Dame_Lillard will make the trip to Los Angeles and will play tomorrow vs. Clippers after missing today’s practice due to personal reasons.
— Casey Holdahl (@CHold) December 16, 2018
Lillard got off to a tremendous start in his sixth season in the league by posting two 40-point efforts in the first five games of the season, and he continues to be the driving force for this Portland team.
While he had some struggles in the 92-83 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies earlier in the week, he rebounded with 24 points on 8-of-10 shooting in the huge 128-122 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Friday.
This figures to be an important part of the schedule for the Blazers, as after the trip to Los Angeles, they'll return home for three straight games against the Grizzlies, Utah Jazz, and Dallas Mavericks.
That could give Lillard and company an opportunity to get a nice string of wins going before heading into the Christmas Day clash in Utah.
With back-to-back games against the Golden State Warriors on the schedule before the new year, this is a great opportunity for the Blazers to take a significant step forward in the standings.
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