After an incredible stretch of bubble performances that propelled his Portland Trail Blazers to the playoffs, Damian Lillard will likely not play again this season.
The superstar point guard is listed as out for the Game 5 matchup versus the Los Angeles Lakers. This news comes after spraining his right knee on a drive to the basket in Game 4. A 2nd MRI confirmed the sprain, according to the Trail Blazers.
Shooting guard C.J. McCollum will assume the duties as Portland’s go-to source of offense in Lillard’s stead. Gary Trent Jr. and Anfernee Simons will also obtain more scoring duties.
Portland will tremendously miss Lillard, who anchored his squad to a 7-2 bubble record heading into the postseason. He averaged 37.6 points in those 9 games and received the Bubble MVP.
Following last night’s loss to go down 3-1 in the series, a second-round appearance for Portland is unlikely. Now that they lost their Damian Lillard, the odds of that happening are slim to none.
They’ll look to do the improbable and stave off elimination against the Lakers in Game 5 on Wednesday.
