Damian Lillard

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• Trail Blazers' Damian Lillard: Won't play 'meaningless games'

  2D ago •

  Lillard said Tuesday in an interview with Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports that he doesn't plan to play in regular season games when the NBA season resumes unless the Trail Blazers have an opportunity to qualify for the playoffs. "If we come back and they're just like, 'We're adding a few games to finish the regular season,' and they're throwing us out there for meaningless games and we don't have a true opportunity to get into the playoffs, I'm going to be with my team because I'm a part of the team," Lillard said. "But I'm not going to be participating. I'm telling you that right now. And you can put that in there." At the time the season was suspended March 11, the Blazers were in the thick of the race for the eighth seed in the Western Conference, sitting 3.5 games behind the Grizzlies. With Jusuf Nurkic (leg) and Zach Collins (shoulder) expected to return in the near future, Portland may have had an opportunity to close the gap. But as the future of the 2019-20 season hangs in the balance, it's still unclear if the league will jump directly to the playoffs with the current top eight teams in each conference, or give teams like Portland a chance to qualify. Lillard noted that he would play if the league chose to employ a "play-in" style tournament, which has been rumored as a possibility, but is far from a guarantee.

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• Trail Blazers' Damian Lillard: Scores 25 points in win

  03/11/2020 •

  Lillard posted 25 points (8-17 FG, 5-10 3Pt, 4-4 FT), seven assists, five rebounds, three steals and two blocks in 40 minutes during Tuesday's 121-105 win over the Suns. This was Lillard's best game since he returned from a six-game absence due to injury, and all signs point toward the All-Star point guard returning to the sizzling form he had prior to the injury sustained last month. Lillard is averaging 20.8 points with 6.0 assists in his last four games, and he will look to keep producing Thursday against the Grizzlies.

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• Trail Blazers' Damian Lillard: Dishes out six assists

  03/07/2020 •

  Lillard scored 24 points (6-16 FG, 3-7 3Pt, 9-10 FT) while adding six assists and three rebounds in 38 minutes during Friday's 127-117 loss at Phoenix. Lillard has done a good job since returning from an injury that forced him to miss the All-Star Game, scoring at least 20 points and dishing out at least five dimes in both contests thus far. The fact that he's healthy is the most important thing regarding the star point guard, and he should experience an increase on his usage rate -- as well as his overall production -- in the coming games as the Blazers remain alive in Western Conference the playoff race.

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• Trail Blazers' Damian Lillard: Scores 22 in first game back

  03/05/2020 •

  Lillard (groin) recorded 22 points (6-12 FG, 4-7 3Pt, 6-6 FT), five assists, four rebounds, two steals and one block across 32 minutes Wednesday in the Trail Blazers' 125-104 win over the Wizards. Wednesday marked Lillard's return from a six-game absence, and the Blazers were able to cruise to a relatively comfortable victory at home. That allowed Lillard to ease himself back into action, as he finished with only the fourth-most field-goal attempts among Blazers' starters.

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• Trail Blazers' Damian Lillard: Starting Wednesday

  03/05/2020 •

  Lillard (groin) will join the starting lineup for Wednesday's game against the Wizards. As anticipated, Lillard will be back with the first unit in his return from a six-game absence. On the year, the star point guard's averaging 29.5 points, 7.9 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 3.9 threes in 37.0 minutes per game.

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