Damian Lillard has struggled to begin the 2021-22 season.
Portland Trail Blazers standout Damian Lillard will be out indefinitely as he recovers from a nagging abdominal injury, coach Chauncey Billups told the media Sunday.
Chauncey Billups says Damian Lillard will be day-to-day with his abdominal injury. Says he had to convince Lillard to take tonight’s Denver game off.
— Jason Quick (@jwquick) November 14, 2021
Billups has dealt with the injury, known as lower abdominal tendinopathy, for several few seasons. Sunday’s road game at Denver marked his first absence of 2021-22.
“Anytime it gets irritated it’s just a little irritation there, you know what I mean?” Lillard told the media earlier this month. “But I’ve played with it for a few years now so I’m kind of immune to playing with it. I’ve played well, I’ve done a lot of things with it being irritated, but it’s just (frustrating).”
Billups, 31, is off to one of the worst starts of his career, averaging 20 points — his fewest since 2013-14 — on 38% shooting. As it stands, his 26.8% on 3-pointers would be the lowest of his career by 10 percentage points.
