Game 4 of the Blazers-Lakers series was a blowout from the jump, as L.A. ran out to a 10-0 lead and eventually a fitting 24-8 lead on the night they honored Kobe with the Black Mamba uniforms, never looking back as they carried a 25-point lead into the fourth.
In the third quarter, both teams saw stars exit the game due to injury, with Anthony Davis leaving and being announced as out for the remainder of the game with back spasms and Damian Lillard later in the quarter suffering a right knee injury that, likewise, ended his night early.
Anthony Davis will not return tonight due to back spasms.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) August 25, 2020
Damian Lillard (right knee injury) will not return.
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) August 25, 2020
The hope for both is that neither injury is too severe to impact them longterm, as back spasms can be a nagging issue and the knee injury for Lillard came on a non-contact incident in which he planted hard on his right leg and his knee seemed to buckle slightly.
Lillard appeared to injure his knee and went back to the locker room. He would return to the floor, but only play a few possessions before heading to the locker room again…
More into to come. pic.twitter.com/SpGDD7rVPu— NBC Sports Northwest (@NBCSNorthwest) August 25, 2020
Lillard will have further testing on that knee to determine the severity and the Blazers will give a more specific update when that happens, as Chris Haynes of Yahoo reports he is currently going to have an MRI done.
Yahoo Sources: Portland star Damian Lillard is undergoing an MRI on his right knee.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) August 25, 2020
Neither team can afford missed time from either player, as Portland’s only hope to get back into this series would be for Lillard to explode as he did in the seeding round on offense, and the Lakers title hopes are obviously contingent on having Davis at full strength alongside LeBron James.