Damian Lillard’s 2022-23 campaign appears to be over. According to Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report, the team has made the decision to shut Lillard down with seven games left in the remainder of the year as he deals with a calf injury.
With injury-plagued Portland Trail Blazers out of the playoff picture, superstar guard Damian Lillard will be held out the remainder of the season, league sources tell @NBAonTNT, @BleacherReport.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) March 28, 2023
Lillard has, per usual, been excellent this season, as he was named an All-Star and has put forth a strong case to make an All-NBA team for the seventh time in his career. After playing in only 29 games last year due to injuries, Lillard bounced back in a big way, averaging a career-high 32.2 points, 7.3 assists, and 4.8 rebounds in 36.3 minutes per game while connection on 46.3 percent of his attempts from the field and 37.1 percent of his tries from behind the three-point line.
The decision comes as the Blazers are on the verge of being eliminated from play-in contention. The team is currently 32-43, which puts them in 13th place in the Western Conference. As of Tuesday, Portland sits five games back of the Oklahoma City Thunder, which currently have the 10-seed and the final spot in the play-in. While the team is not mathematically eliminated from having a shot to make it to the playoffs, Tuesday’s news makes it even more likely that the team will miss out for the second year in a row.