Damian Lillard Will Miss Next Three Trail Blazers Games with Injury

Damian Lillard will miss the next three Portland Trail Blazers games, dealing with an ongoing abdominal injury. Portland is now scheduled to face the Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Sacramento Kings without their All-Star. Casey Holdahl of the Blazers tweeted the news this morning.

Blazers announce that @Dame_Lillard will sit out the next three games — Miami (Jan. 5), Cleveland (Jan. 7) and Sacramento (Jan. 9) — and will be re-evaluated next week.

The Trail Blazers followed up with a press release via their web site:

PORTLAND, Ore. (January 5, 2022) – Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard will undergo further evaluation and consultation concerning his lower abdominal tendinopathy, the team announced today.

These games will mark the 8th, 9th, and 10th that Lillard has sat out this season. The Trail Blazers have a 2-5 record so far in games in which he has missed.

Last night, Sean Highkin of Bleacher Report quoted Trail Blazers Head Coach Chauncey Billups saying that if Lillard’s abdominal injury did not improve, the Blazers would consider shutting him down for “an extended period”. Billups indicated that franchise officials would meet to discuss the matter soon.

Lillard is averaging 24.0 points, 7.3 assists, and 4.1 rebounds for the Blazers so far this season in 29 appearances, playing 36.4 minutes per game. He is shooting a career-low 40.2% from the field, 32.4% from the three-point arc.