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Tim BontempsESPN
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Portland Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts confirmed what star Damian Lillard said after Thursday night’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers: Despite an injured left index finger he suffered in Game 2, Lillard will be in the starting lineup for Game 3.
“He’s getting treatments today,” Stotts said. Multiple treatments throughout the day.
“I believe he will wear a splinter, but he will play.”
Lillard injured his finger when he hit Anthony Davis’ shoes late in the third quarter and wrapped up on the very fourth seat when the Lakers blew out the Blazers to make even the series on a game piece.
“I did not know what happened,” Lillard said. “I just knew I was coming from behind and, I did not know if it was his leg or his foot, or if I was just pressing my hand into his back or something, but I felt it right away. And when I felt it, did I did not even want to look at it.But I saw, and it was gone, and I immediately began to try to pull it back [in place]. … I got it to go back a bit, but it was still out, and when I went to the back, they had to pull it back. “
Yet none of that went to prevent Lillard, who had been on a tear for a month since, from falling down the NBA bubble at the Walt Disney World Resort, against the Lakers in Game 3 and beyond.
“Oh, I’m playing,” Lillard said, adding that he had never untied his finger before.
For his part, Stotts said he would be surprised if Lillard had said something else.
“Honestly, it’s kind of what we expect,” Stotts said. “I fully anticipated, unless it was a broken finger, and even then … Dame has played a lot of injuries.
“And these are the playoffs, I don’t think it surprises anyone. But sure, it sets the tone for the rest of the team.”
Lillard, who scored 34 points in Portland’s Game 1 victory before scoring 18 points in 30 minutes before his injury in Game 2, scored 51 points against Philadelphia, 61 against Dallas and 43 against Brooklyn just around the Blazers in play -in the NBA to get tournament over the weekend, where Portland beat Memphis to make it back to the playoffs.
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