Trail Blazers star guard Damian Lillard will not play against the 76ers on Thursday due to an abdominal strain, which contributes to Portland’s growing list of injuries.
Lillard, the NBA’s third leading scorer, indicated that he was considering putting out Portland’s previous game against the Wizards on Tuesday, saying he “felt I could barely move there to start the game.”
Lillard was initially indicated on the NBA’s official injury report as questionable against Philadelphia, but the Blazers ruled him out later Thursday afternoon.
Starting in Portland, CJ McCollum (foot), Jusuf Nurkic (wrist) and Derrick Jones Jr. (foot) are all on the sidelines with injuries, and the swinging Nassir Little (knee) was also ruled out on Thursday against the leading Sixers in the Eastern Conference.
Lillard scored 32 points on Tuesday to lure Portland with an injury, to a 132-121 victory in Washington. He said after the game that he ‘pushed and fought’ during the game because he ‘knew how important this one was to our season’.
Lillard (30) scored 29.1 points and is 7.3 assists – the eighth best point in the NBA – in 20 games this season.