Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard left Monday’s blowout loss to the Lakers in the third quarter due to a right knee injury and didn’t return, undergoing an MRI after the game. However, according to the team, the results of that MRI were inconclusive, and Lillard will undergo a second MRI on Tuesday afternoon (Twitter link).
Lillard was already banged up, dealing with a dislocated left finger as he tries to lead the Blazers to a first-round upset over the top-seeded Lakers. However, with Portland now facing a 3-1 deficit and the All-Star guard battling a knee issue as well, it will be interesting to see whether he suits up for Game 5 on Wednesday. While Lillard will surely do all he can to play, the Blazers are now an extreme long shot and it may be in their best long-term interests to play it safe with their franchise player.
Meanwhile, an All-Star on the other side of the court also left Monday’s game and didn’t return, as Lakers big man Anthony Davis was said to be dealing with back spasms. Davis downplayed the injury after the game though, telling reporters that his back “is doing fine,” per Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
For now, it doesn’t sound as if Davis’ availability for Game 5 is in jeopardy. If he plays as effectively on Wednesday as he did in Game 4, when he was a +37 in just 18 minutes, the Lakers can afford to reduce his minutes a little.
Remember when the Trailblazers were supposed to push the Lakers to game seven and possibly even win the series? Pepperridge Farms remembers.
Portland just happened to get hot in the bubble, led by the dominance of Lillard. Once Lillard’s shooting regressed to the mean, the Trailblazers predictably fell back to Earth. Even when they went 7-2 in the bubble, they still won just one contest by double digits. Let this be a lesson that sample size is important when evaluating talent
They could still force a game six if they win on Wednesday.
Remember when Lakers fans were jumping off a bridge after one loss?
Lol remember that guy ranting about LeBron being washed and somehow ruining the Lakers?