Portland Trail Blazers star guard Damian Lillard has been downgraded to out for tonight’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Lillard was originally listed as questionable with an abdominal strain that he first suffered earlier in the week.
After the Trail Blazers’ 132-121 win over the Washington Wizards on Feb. 2, Lillard discussed playing through his injury.
“We’ve been having guys dropping left and right, dealing with a lot,” he said. “And I’ve been dealing with some nagging things myself, where coming into tonight, I felt like I could barely move out there to start the game. And I was even thinking, ‘Should I have sat last night? Or sat tonight?’ I was pushing and fighting that the whole game, because I knew how important this one was for our season.”
Lillard’s backcourt partner C.J. McCollum remains out, while forwards Derrick Jones Jr. and Nassir Little are also out against the 76ers.
In addition to those injuries, guard Anfernee Simons aggravated a hamstring injury and will likely be at less than 100 percent.
Gary Trent Jr., Rodney Hood and Carmelo Anthony will handle heavy workloads tonight.
