No heart-shaped boxes of chocolates or flowers for the Portland Trail Blazers this Valentine’s Day. Just a bunch of heartache after a 126-101 home loss to the Washington Wizards.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t only the Wizards that broke the Blazers’ heart. An ankle injury to Anfernee Simons only worsened Portland’s already significant injury woes.
Here’s a quick round-up of the latest Blazers news, including an Ant injury update, Dame’s seemingly-never-ending hot streak, and the NBA All-Star Weekend that could have been.
Anfernee Simons suffers ankle sprain in loss to Washington
Anfernee Simons was helped off the court after an apparent leg injury vs. the Wizards. pic.twitter.com/C7x4R1SZLt
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) February 15, 2023
Simons went up for a floater in the third quarter of Tuesday night’s game and landed on the back of Wiz forward Kyle Kuzma’s foot. He had to be helped off the court and didn’t return.
“I guess we’ll kind of see the severity tomorrow,” Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said after the game, via Oregon Live. “We’ll get an MRI on it. It didn’t look awesome, though.”
Billups later confirmed that X-rays of Simons’ ankle were negative, but Ant is still expected to miss some time.
The injuries are really starting to pile up for Portland. Jerami Grant is in concussion protocol, and Jusuf Nurkic has been sidelined since the beginning of February with a calf injury.
The all-star break comes at a good time for the Blazers with 3/5 of their starting lineup currently in street clothes.
It was Dame Time. Again.
Lillard had another huge game, but it came in another loss. That seems to be a recurring theme this season.
Dame led all scorers with 39 points on 14-of-30 shooting and 5-of-17 from three. With no Grant or Nurkic and Simons leaving early, Lillard had twice as many shot attempts as any other Blazer.
Since the start of the new year, it’s been all Dame, all the time in Portland.
Lillard ranks fourth in the league in scoring entering the all-star break. The 32-year-old franchise cornerstone is averaging 31.4 points and, despite taking the second-most threes per game in the NBA, (11.2 compared to Stephen Curry’s 11.4), has the highest 3-point percentage (37.2) of anyone in the top eight in scoring.
Since the start of the 2023 calendar year, Dame leads the league in points per game. He’s scored at least 40 six times and also had 50- and 60-point nights.
Unfortunately – and clearly not through any fault of his own – Portland is 10-13 since then.
Lillard won’t end up being mentioned in the MVP conversation, but he at least deserves a shout.
The Blazers-infused all-star weekend that wasn’t
NBA All-Star Weekend 2023 begins Feb. 17 in Salt Lake City.
Portland was set to get some serious love from the national media. Now – fittingly – Dame is the last one standing.
Shaedon Sharpe was going to give the NBA world a show in the dunk contest. Winning wasn’t even the point; the Blazers rookie’s insane hops would have been on display for a national audience.
Simons was ready to join Lillard in the 3-point contest. It seems safe to assume he’ll be getting some rest and rehab rather than showing the league he can go toe-to-toe with Dame from beyond the arc.
It was a good chance for everyone to see the potential future in Portland. Now that will have to wait.
Following the all-star break, the Blazers travel to Sacramento to face the Kings on Feb. 23 at 9 p.m.