Hawks beat short-handed Trail Blazers 106-97

The team announced early Monday that Lillard (left foot plantar fasciitis) and McCollum (bilateral ankle sprains) would not play against the Hawks, sapping the Blazers’ of their top two scorers and playmakers. However, after 275 straight games to begin his career, Lillard will miss Monday night’s action against the Atlanta Hawks in Atlanta due to a plantar fasciitis injury that needs some rest to get better. Expect increased minutes for backup point guard Tim Frazier, as well as swingmen Gerald Henderson and Allen Crabbe as they attempt to fill the void left by Lillard and McCollum’s injuries. Check back for an update on both, but it sounds like each has avoided the need to miss any time.

It won’t be Tim Frazier’s first start, as he received one while with the Philadelphia 76ers last season, but it will be his first as a member of the Blazers. He was flanked by strong showings from Thabo Sefolosha (13 points, 6 rebounds) and Tiago Splitter (+19 in 19 minutes), and the starters breezed through without heaving to shoulder an immensely hard workload. Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said he liked the toughness he saw in Schroder and when Paul Millsap returned after tweaking his left ankle and leaving the game. Starting point guard Jeff Teague added 13 points and handed out eight assists.

“I know it won’t be long”, Lillard said, when asked how long he thought he’d be out. I didn’t do enough. From there, though, the Hawks raced to a 15-4 spurt to close the half, and seemingly in the blink of an eye, Atlanta was in full control with a 12-point halftime advantage. He played all 47 minutes and change in Monday’s game against the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks are averaging 113 points per game in their past three contests, after scoring 86.7 points in losing their previous three games.BUZZER BEATERS1.

The modest four-game win streak, which followed three straight losses, is good news for an Atlanta team that had struggled to reclaim the form it showed in advancing to last season’s Eastern Conference finals. “We had a little rough patch there”.

Lillard said he had to think about protecting his health for the remainder of the season instead of preserving the streak. “It could be one game, maybe two”.