Trail Blazers' Damian Lillard to miss at least 3 games due to abdominal issue

Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Portland Trail Blazers superstar Damian Lillard will be out for at least one more week because of the ongoing lower abdominal tendinopathy that has plagued him this season.

The team said in a statement Wednesday that Lillard will miss the Blazers' next three games -- home contests against the Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers and Sacramento Kings -- before being re-evaluated next week.

Lillard has averaged 24 points, 7.3 assists and 4.1 rebounds over 29 games for the Trail Blazers this season. Portland (14-22) currently sits tied for 11th in the Western Conference standings with the San Antonio Spurs.

Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups told reporters Tuesday that shutting down Lillard for an extended period of time could be possible.

"I think what we're going to do is just kind of meet, put all our heads together soon and then talk through some of those things," Billups said. "I think that's probably going to be the route that we go if he doesn't get some kind of relief there."

Lillard didn't play in the Trail Blazers' win over the Atlanta Hawks on Monday. In that victory, backup guard Anfernee Simons scored 43 points for Portland.

The 31-year-old Lillard also missed five games earlier this season due to the same abdominal injury, which has been an issue for the veteran guard since before the 2021-22 campaign began.

Lillard, a six-time All-Star selection and six-time All-NBA choice, is less than 500 points away from breaking Basketball Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler's franchise career scoring record.