Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard will miss his third straight game as he continues to deal with a right groin strain. The team hosts the Boston Celtics Tuesday night at Moda Center.
Damian Lillard (right groin strain) is out for Tuesday’s game against Boston. Rodney Hood (left ruptured Achilles tendon), Zach Collins (left shoulder dislocation) and Jusuf Nurkic (left leg fracture) remain out as well.
— Jamie Goldberg (@Jamiebgoldberg) February 24, 2020
Lillard last played in a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on February 12th. The Blazers have gone 1-1 in the past two games without Dame, though defense was the main issue in their 128-115 home defeat to the New Orleans Pelicans.
On Sunday, they were able to squeak one out over the Detroit Pistons, 107-104, but they needed 73 combined points from C.J. McCollum and Carmelo Anthony to carry the load. Portland has gone 1-3 overall in games Lillard has missed this 2019-20 campaign.
Portland (26-32) trails Memphis (28-28) by three games in the race for the eighth seed in the Western Conference. Dame is having his best individual season as he heroically attempts to carry the injury-riddled Blazers to the postseason. He is setting career highs in points (29.5), assists (7.8) and field goal percentage (46.0 perceny) per game while raining threes at a rate of nearly 40 percent.
Damian Lillard was initially expected to miss three to five games, so he isn't necessarily behind schedule. The groin injury also prevented him from participating in basketball activities during All-Star weekend, though Dame D.O.L.L.A. still took the stage.
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