The Portland Trail Blazers will again be without four regular starters when they host the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Moda Center tomorrow night.
INJURY REPORT 3/26 @trailblazers vs. OKC:
OUT
Badji (L Knee Surgery Recovery)
Grant (L Quad Contusion)
Lillard (R Calf Tightness)
Nurkic (R Knee Soreness)
Simons (R Foot Soreness)
Winslow (L Ankle Sprain)— Trail Blazers PR (@TrailBlazersPR) March 26, 2023
The injury report follows a report by The Athletic’s Shams Charania that the Blazers are considering shutting down Damian Lillard for the remainder of the season.
Lillard, Anfernee Simons, Jerami Grant, Jusuf Nurkic, Justise Winslow and two-way player Ibou Badji are set to miss the encounter with the Thunder, after also missing Friday’s game against the Chicago Bulls.
Likely starters will include Ryan Arcidiacono, Shaedon Sharpe, Matisse Thybulle, Trendon Watford and Drew Eubanks with increased minutes for younger Blazers, including John Butler Jr.
Portland’s 32-41 record places them 13th in the NBA’s Western Conference, three positions away from competing in the postseason Play-In Tournament to determine the lower seeds in the 2023 NBA Playoffs bracket. The half-dozen teams ahead of Portland all have 37 or 38 losses. The Blazers would need to leapfrog three of the six over their final nine games in order to compete in the tournament.
For the Thunder, only Chet Holmgren and Kenrich Williams are out.