In the Portland Trail Blazers' 110-99 Game 3 loss to the Golden State Warriors, Damian Lillard had one of his least efficient games of this postseason.
In 40 minutes of action, en route to scoring 19 points, he shot 5-of-18 (27.8%) from the field and 3-of-9 from long distance, finishing with five of the team's 11 turnovers.
Lillard has been below his best against the Warriors and according to The Athletics' Shams Charania, he has been hampered by injury, playing Game 3 with separated ribs.
Portland Trail Blazers All-NBA star Damian Lillard has separated ribs and is playing through the injury, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. Lillard shot 5-of-18 in Game 3 loss to Warriors.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 19, 2019
As per multiple reports, Lillard appeared to suffer the injury in Game 2.
Despite Damian Lillard appearing to injure his ribs on this play in Game 2, Portland's star has been playing through his injury.
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 19, 2019
Dame played 40 min in Game 3. pic.twitter.com/VXLTTqJNnM
However, according to ESPN's Tim MacMahon, Lillard's injury had minimal impact on his Game 3 performance.
A source confirmed that Damian Lillard has a separated rib but downplayed the impact of the injury on his performance. “Not a story, he always plays through injuries.”
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) May 19, 2019
Down 3-0 against the Warriors, the Trail Blazers will look to avoid a sweep in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals on Tuesday.
