After Portland Trail Blazers star point guard Damian Lillard missed Wednesday night's 108-103 road loss to the Memphis Grizzlies due to the birth of his son, he will make his return to the lineup for Friday's home game against the L.A. Clippers.
The news of Lillard's return from a one-game absence was first reported by NBA Insider Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports.
Sources: After birth of his son Thursday morning, Portland star Damian Lillard will return to the Trail Blazers for Friday’s home game against the Clippers. He missed Blazers’ road loss in Memphis on Wednesday.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 29, 2018
Just a few hours ago earlier today, Lillard took to Instagram to post a picture of his newborn son, Dame Jr., in the hospital and he's absolutely adorable.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg6SI5DjZZG/?taken-by=damianlillard
Article Continues BelowOn Tuesday night on the road against the New Orleans Pelicans, Lillard was a beast down the stretch of the game and scored a whopping 20 of his game-high 41 points in the fourth quarter alone. What was Lillard's stat line? 41 points on an impressive 18-of-33 shooting from the field, nine rebounds, six assists, and four steals in 42 minutes of action.
Via an article written by Brett Martel of the Associated Press:
“We were just fighting, fighting, fighting, and I was like, ‘Man, we've got to roll. I don't want to come out,'” Lillard said. “I don't want the game to change, you know, them go on a run. I don't want anything to be out of my control and me not being able to have an impact on whatever happens.”
In 67 starts this season for the Blazers, Lillard is currently averaging a team-high 26.8 points per game on 44.1 percent shooting from the field, 6.5 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.1 steals in 36.6 minutes of action per contest.