Blazers to shut Damian Lillard down For Season?

The Portland Trail Blazers are 3.5 games behind in the race for the Western Conference Play-In Tournament and are considering shutting down their star guard Damian Lillard for the rest of the season due to a calf injury. Lillard has also mentioned the importance of being smart when a team is no longer competitive. This could result in Portland missing the playoffs for the second consecutive year, after a streak of eight consecutive playoff appearances. Lillard has played in 58 out of 73 games this season and is averaging a career-high 32.2 points per game in his 11th NBA season.