Portland Trail Blazers Roster
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Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard (hamstring) has been given the thumbs down to take the floor for Friday's game against the Spurs due to right hamstring tendinopathy. The absence will mark just the third all season for Lillard, who figures to cede minutes at the PG spot to Anfernee Simons, who stands to be a DFS cash play darling despite coming off the bench. Derrick Jones Jr. will draw the start in place of Lillard, but he has proven to be a finicky fantasy cog due to his lack of offensive contributions. In addition, C.J. McCollum is in line to lead the offense without Lillard in the mix. Having struggled to the tune of just 38.5 percent from the field overall in seven April contests, Lillard will have until Sunday versus Charlotte before he'll need to try and suit up again.
Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard (hamstring) has been deemed questionable to play in Friday's contest versus the Spurs due to right hamstring tendinopathy. Lillard has slowed his MVP levels of production during the month of April, seeing his scoring average dip to 21.3 PPG across seven contests. In addition to shooting just 38.5 percent from the field overall, Lillard has missed nine free throws this month, more than he did in 14 games during January and March. Should he be held out for Friday's contest, look for C.J. McCollum to garner massive DFS appeal, while Anfernee Simons should slot in as a premier cash game and streamer option, where applicable. Check back to get the final word on Lillard, as Portland's backcourt stands to have favorable sway on Friday's slate one way or the other.
Portland Trail Blazers small forward Carmelo Anthony had his best offensive game of the month on Tuesday night against the Boston Celtics. Anthony shot 10-for-15 from the field and 2-for-2 from the line while dropping 25 points, the most points he's scored in a game since he dropped 26 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves on March 13. Anthony hit three triples on Tuesday night and also added two rebounds, an assist and a block. Anthony was held scoreless in his previous game on Sunday and he failed to reach double-digits in scoring in four of six games before this one. He'll look to build off this effort in his next game on Friday against the San Antonio Spurs.
On Tuesday night, Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard had a solid bounce-back game after a rough outing on Sunday. Unfortunately, it didn't lead to a victory as the Trail Blazers fell to the Boston Celtics 116-115. Lillard shot 9-for-23 in the game and scored a team-high 28 points. He also had 10 assists and five rebounds. He shot 5-for-13 from three-point range in the game. Lillard has had a bit of a shaky month. He's shooting just 38.4% from the field in April and is averaging just 20.2 points per game across the month, well below his season average of 28.7 points per game. Next up for Lillard is a game against the San Antonio Spurs on Friday. Lillard dropped 35 points the last time he faced the Spurs in January.
Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic has been removed from the injury report ahead of Sunday's game against the Miami Heat. He sat out of Saturday's contest for rest reasons, but it sounds like the Blazers will let him play here. His return will mean less playing time for Enes Kanter. That's a shame considering Kanter pulled down a franchise-record 30 rebounds on Saturday. He'll still remain a consistent fantasy option even off the bench.