By Jerry Wein
Sixers Ben Simmons for Portland’s Dame Lillard?
Lillard hit 11-of-23 shots and 4-of-13 3-pointers for 27 points, five rebounds, six assists and two turnovers in Tuesday’s 117-109 loss to the Clippers.
The Blazers have yet to win on the road and he was shown grimacing and holding his abdominal region a few times throughout the night. He dealt with an ab strain in the Olympics and Charles Barkley is now calling for the Blazers to trade Lillard.
Whether he’s happy in Portland or not, the ab strain is a much bigger concern. The good news is that he stayed in and played through it, even as the game got out of hand, so fantasy managers just have to hope he keeps playing.
But the Blazers are 5-6 on the season and you have to think they’re going to shake the team up at some point in the next year. And you have to wonder if Dame’s ab has been causing him problems all season, leading to his slow start.
