On Sunday, the Portland Trail Blazers will host the Oklahoma City Thunder, a team that is also vying for a spot in the play-in tournament.
Oklahoma City is 36-38 while Portland is 32-41 so far this season. Oklahoma City has dominated this series, with seven consecutive victories over Portland. The game will begin at the Moda Center in Portland at 7:00 p.m. EDT.
Updates Injury for Portland Trail Blazers and Oklahoma City Thunder
Damian Lillard, a seven-time All-Star guard, is likely to miss the rest of the season as the Portland Trail Blazers sink deeper into mediocrity.
Lillard has been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder, adding fuel to the fire that the Trail Blazers were on the verge of shutting him down for the season. Portland still has nine games to play.
Portland’s seventh loss in eight games came on Friday against the visiting Chicago Bulls, a 124-96 drubbing in which Lillard did not play due to calf tightness.
The Trail Blazers (32-41) entered Saturday 3 1/2 games out of the final play-in spot in the Western Conference and had not made up any ground.
Lillard admitted earlier in the week that his season could be over if the team doesn’t improve their performance soon.
“We’re on a losing streak. We’ve pretty much fallen out of the race for the 10th spot unless we go out there and win every game,” Lillard told reporters. “I love to play, I love the competition and I haven’t been ready to give that up. But there does come a point in time when do you stop putting your competitive nature out front?”
Lillard had a monster season, averaging 32.2 points and 7.3 assists in 58 games, despite dealing with recurring calf injuries.
His 71-point performance on February 26 against the Houston Rockets was the season’s highlight and helped him set a new career high in scoring average.
Hurting matters against the Blazers was that Lillard wasn’t the only starter in street clothes. Also out were center Jusuf Nurkic (knee), forward Jerami Grant (quadriceps) and guard Anfernee Simons (foot).
Portland rookie Shaedon Sharpe has scored 24 points in each of the last two games, and his role on the team may increase while Lillard is out.
The Trail Blazers have lost all three games this season to Oklahoma City and has dropped seven straight meetings against its division foe.
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For Thunder, after winning eight of their previous 10, Oklahoma City (36-38) has now lost two in a row. As of Saturday, the Thunder were in a tie for 10th place.
The Thunder dropped game two of their four-game road trip, 116-111, to the Lakers on Friday.
Against the Lakers, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey each scored 27 points. Giddey also had seven assists and a season-high 17 rebounds.
Despite suffering from an abdominal strain, Gilgeous-Alexander played a pivotal game against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Despite shooting just 9-for-22 from the field, the star point guard tied for the team lead with 27 points. Gilgeous-Alexander dished out a game-high eight assists in the loss, matching his career high set against the Lakers on February 7.
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Thunder injury report:
| PLAYER | INJURY |
STATUS
|
| Kenrich Williams | Wrist |
Out for the season
|
| Chet Holmgren | Foot |
Out for the season
|
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Blazers injury report:
| PLAYER | INJURY |
STATUS
|
| Anfernee Simons | Foot |
Expected to be out until at least Mar 27
|
| Damian Lillard | Calf |
Expected to be out until at least Mar 27
|
| Jerami Grant | Quadriceps |
Expected to be out until at least Mar 27
|
| Jusuf Nurkic | Knee |
Expected to be out until at least Mar 27
|
| Ibou Badji | Knee |
Expected to be out until at least Aug 1
|
| Justise Winslow | Ankle |
Expected to be out until at least Apr 2
|
