MDP Live - The 2021-2022 season looks increasingly hostile to Damian Lillard. After a series of poor results with the Portland Trail Blazers, the player who is familiarly called Dame is also sidelined for a long time due to injury.
The Athletic report says Dame will undergo surgery for his abdominal muscle injury, Thursday, January 13, 2022, local time. Dame, who has missed the last five Blazers games, is expected to be out for the next 6-8 weeks. This injury has reportedly been experienced since he participated in the United States national team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Dame has appeared in a total of 29 Blazers games this season. He only helped the Blazers win in 12 games. Dame is averaging 24.0 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 7.3 assists per game. This point record is the lowest since 2015-2016. Dame also incised the lowest record even in his career for triple point accuracy at 32 percent.
In addition to losing Dame, the Blazers also haven't been strengthened by C.J. McCollum. CJ has only played 24 times and has been absent since December 4, 2021 due to a problem in his lungs. The latest news says CJ is ready to play but is still asking for time away from the team to await the birth of his first child.
Without these two stars, the Blazers also depend on their ranks of young players. In the last game against the Brooklyn Nets, Anfernee Simons appeared solid in leading the Blazers to victory. There is also the name Nassir Little who often gives surprises.
The Blazers are in 10th place in the Western Conference standings. As of now, it seems that the Blazers are still trying to qualify for the playoffs even though the situation is looking increasingly difficult. Moreover, if Dame is really out for up to eight weeks, this will be the longest time the Blazers have been without Dame and the Blazers have never been tested for this.
