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The Portland Trail Blazers have clinched homecourt advantage and will face the New Orleans Pelicans in the first round of the 2018 NBA Playoffs. When they line up against Anthony Davis and company for Game 1, they will do so without the services of Maurice Harkless, who had arthroscopic surgery on March 28th to remove a loose body from his knee. Jason Quick of NBCSports Northwest is reporting that the small forward is on track to return, but not until next week at the earliest.
Sources: After evaluation, Maurice Harkless is "tracking on a three-week timeline" to return, which would be middle of next week. Team won't bring Harkless back until he is comfortable and confident in left knee.
— Jason Quick (@jwquick) April 12, 2018
Harkless averaged 6.5 points and 2.7 rebounds in 21.4 minutes per game in 59 appearances for the Blazers this season. shooting 49.5% from the field and 41.5% from the three-point arc. The Blazers are 12-10 in games in which he did not appear this season (not counting tonight’s contest against the Utah Jazz) and 3-4 since he hit the inactive list with this latest injury.