Just as soon as they rocketed up to almost the top of the Western Conference standings, the Portland Trailblazers may continue to fall back to Earth after All-Star guard Damian Lillard exited last Saturday's game with a calf injury against the Utah Jazz.
A recent MRI revealed Damian Lillard suffered a right calf strain in “a different area from his previous injury,” according to a Sunday morning tweet from Bleacher Report NBA insider Chris Haynes. The injury will sideline him for a brief period of time.
The six-time All-NBA guard is averaging 26.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game in 11 games played this season, again taking up the role of Portland's lead scorer for a team that has jumped out to its best start since the 2018-19 season. Guard Anfernee Simons hit the ground running in place of now-New Orleans Pelicans guard CJ McCollum in his first full-time starting role for the Trailblazers since being drafted with the 24th pick in 2018 NBA draft, scoring 22.5 points per game and logging the highest Player Efficiency Rating of his young career at 16.4.
Damian Lillard missed four games in late October and early November after he exited a game against the Miami Heat in the third quarter with what was later determined to be a right calf strain. The Trailblazers went 2-2 in his absence, taking a convincing win against the Houston Rockets and a close victory to the Phoenix Suns while falling by 20 points to Phoenix and losing a hard-fought battle to the Memphis Grizzlies by five points.
The Trailblazers have gone 3-2 without their star point guard this season, gaining a +2 total point differential in the five Western Conference matchups. Portland will likely have to face two of the Eastern Conference's toughest contenders in the Milwaukee Bucks and Cleveland Cavaliers without the 10-year Trailblazer, relying on Simons and former Detroit Pistons forward Jerami Grant for the scoring punch needed to keep pace with some of the league's best big duos.
The Trailblazers will tip off against the Bucks at 5 p.m. PST this Monday at Fiserv Forum. The game can be streamed on Root Sports Plus.
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