Portland Trail Blazers: There is a silver lining to the Damian Lillard injury

The hottest NBA player for the last month has been Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers. The only thing that could stop him is a groin injury

There is never a good time during the season for an injury. The Portland Trail Blazers entered the All-Star break in the ninth seed, four games behind the Memphis Grizzlies. They have been riding the sublime play of Damian Lillard until he injured his groin in the last game before the break.

This is the silver lining on the Lillard injury, he will be re-evaluated after one week, with the potential of missing two. If it is one week, the only game that he is missing is the All-Star game which not going to have any impact on the Trail Blazers playoff run.

Lillard can spend the entire week rehabilitating his groin. I am sure that he would rather have competed in the 3-point contest and All-Star game, but Lillard is a Trail Blazer through and through and would rather take his team into the playoffs.

If Lillard misses two weeks then he will miss up to four regular-season games. The first two games back after the break are against non-playoff teams. They play the New Orleans Pelicans and the Detroit Pistons. For the Blazers to show they have playoff potential, they need to beat both these teams with or without Lillard.

The two games that follow are against the Boston Celtics and the Indiana Pacers. The Trail Blazers are 5-3 against teams over .500 in the past ten games. At the same time, they have split the two games against sub .500 teams.

The first ten games back after the All-Star break for the Trail Blazers feature only two games against playoff seeded teams. This is quite a soft schedule for the Blazers. For them to be a genuine playoff threat, they need to win the majority of these games.

Not only this, the Blazers have the chance to directly impact their own push for the playoffs with two matchups against Grizzlies before the season ends. Simple mathematics will show that taking two games off the team above you will get you closer to them.

On the other hand, the Grizzlies have an incredibly tough ten games straight after the All-Star break. Their first four games after the break are on the road, they have six of the first ten after the break away from home.

Six of their ten games are against playoff seeded teams including three against Los Angeles franchises. This stretch will show the NBA whether the Grizzlies are a serious playoff threat or a franchise with one of the best young cores who will compete in the future.

It is this stretch just after the break that is crucial for gaining momentum leading into the playoffs. If you falter during this ten-game stretch then there is not enough time before the end of the season to gain momentum back, particularly if you are making a push for the eighth seed.

Should Lillard have been injured in the first game back the Blazers could have kissed their playoff aspirations goodbye. However, with the All-Star break happening straight after the injury, it may only cost the Blazers a few games.

In an injury-ravaged season, some light may have shone on the Portland Trail Blazers at last. While there is never a good injury in the NBA, every so often there is a sometimes a lucky break and for the Blazers this is the All-Star break.