Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
ATLANTA (AP) — Leading scorers Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum have been ruled out for Portland's game at Atlanta on Monday night.
Lillard has plantar fasciitis in his left foot. McCollum has two sprained ankles. Lillard said he has been playing with a sore foot for a few weeks.
The injury ends Lillard's streak of playing in 275 consecutive games — every game of his career. He said he had to think about protecting his health for the remainder of the season instead of preserving the streak.
"It's more about not trying to be extra tough, worried about the streak or anything like that," Lillard said. "It's something I can take care of now and try to just handle it now as opposed to it lingering on for the rest of the season."
There is no timetable for either guard to return, but Lillard said he doesn't expect to miss many games.
"I know it won't be long," he said. "It could be one game, maybe two. But I've just got to rest it. Try to stay off it. But that's it.
"The reason why I'm not concerned with it really is because if I had to play right now I would go out there and play."
McCollum said he turned both ankles in Sunday's loss to Miami.
"It's hard to play on two tweaked ankles," McCollum said, adding the decision to miss the game was "not my call."
Lillard leads Portland and is tied for seventh in the NBA with his average of 24.6 points per game. McCollum is averaging 20.1 points.
Tim Frazier and Allen Crabbe are expected to be the fill-in starters for the Trail Blazers against the Hawks.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
