Portland Trail Blazers All-Star Damian Lillard will be held out of Tuesday night's game against the New Orleans Pelicans due to back spasms, according to a report from Jason Quick of The Athletic.
Blazers announce Damian Lillard will not play tonight in New Orleans because of back spasms
— Jason Quick (@jwquick) November 19, 2019
Lillard wasn't listed on the Blazers' injury report prior to this account. It's unclear if he sustained the ailment in-game or otherwise. He logged 35 minutes in Monday night's 132-108 loss to the Houston Rockets, scoring 13 points on 4-of-15 shooting from the field (1-of-6 from beyond the arc), 11 assists and six rebounds.
Though Monday night's game wasn't his best, Lillard has been playing great through the early stages of this season. The former No. 6 overall pick is currently averaging a career-high 28.6 points on 45.2 percent shooting, 7.1 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 1.1 steals in a whopping 38.3 minutes per outing.
For the record, Lillard's 38.3 minutes per game are also a career-high. Perhaps the Blazers, who have activated Carmelo Anthony, are giving their star point guard a bit of a break on the tail end of a back-to-back set.
Tuesday night's Blazers-Pelicans matchup is scheduled to tip inside the Smoothie King Center at 8:00 p.m. ET, with NBA TV having live broadcast coverage.
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