Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard missed Sunday’s game against the Toronto Raptors with a foot injury. His X-ray did come back negative though.
There doesn’t seem to be a lot of concern in the Portland Trail Blazers camp after star point-guard Damian Lillard missed Sunday’s game with a foot injury. But upon the second inspection, maybe it’s more severe than most think.
The Oregonian reported that Lillard would miss the eventual loss to the Toronto Raptors with ‘ inflammation along the bottom of his foot. ‘ This is where the concern comes in. Though the X-ray came back negative, inflammation on the bottom of the foot is something Lillard has dealt with before.
"Inflammation of the bottom of the foot" is also known more commonly as "plantar fasciitis", and is not a great thing to have your star player dealing with if you're Portland.
— John Hollinger (@johnhollinger) July 26, 2020
It’s important not to be overly alarmed by this, but to be cautious and recognize the heavy load that Dame has taken on in the regular season as a small guard who is the number option on his team. He led the league in minutes for the first time this season too.
This inflammation can cause intense pain in the bottom of the feet and heel. Dame has dealt with this in the past before, but he has no significant injury history, only missing 34 games in eight years. This is excellent longevity for a small guard.
John Hollinger does have a great point above, as Dame just had four months off, but we will rely on the negative X-ray and then trusting in the Blazers medical staff that this will have no long-term impact on this playoff campaign or Dame’s career.
As Dame ages as a small guard, he will need to have games off periodically to preserve his body. But we hope that this break is just a routine one with some soreness after training and physical practices have ramped up in the NBA Bubble.
We assume that Dame will be back for the next scrimmage against the Oklahoma City Thunder.