The Portland Trail Blazers could be paper-thin again at the center spot for their road matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday.
Blazers starting center Donovan Clingan will miss his third straight game on Thursday due to a left lower leg contusion, while backup centers Robert Williams III (illness) and Yang Hansen (face contusion) are both questionable to play, the organization announced.
The Rose Garden Report’s Sean Highkin also reported on Tuesday that Yang had been dealing with an illness
that kept him out of practice that day. Williams missed Portland’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday due to his own illness. However, Blazers interim head coach Tiago Splitter said Williams was a full participant in Tuesday’s practice in Tualatin.
Elsewhere on the injury report, Jrue Holiday (right calf strain), Matisse Thybulle (left thumb ligament tear), Scoot Henderson (left hamstring tear), Blake Wesley (right foot fracture), and Damian Lillard (left Achilles tear) are all unavailable to play Thursday.
Splitter also provided an update on several of Portland’s inactive players after Tuesday’s practice. He said Holiday, Thybulle and Henderson are all participating in individual non-contact workouts, but they’re not doing contact workouts with the team yet.
Almost three weeks ago on Nov. 21, the Blazers announced Holiday would be re-evaluated in 1-2 weeks and Henderson would be re-evaluated in 2-4 weeks. Outside of Splitter’s comments, there have been no official updates on their return timetables since then.
Additionally, almost six weeks ago on Oct. 31, the Blazers announced Thybulle underwent surgery to repair a tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb and he would be re-evaluated in 4-6 weeks.
The Blazers tip off against the Pelicans on Thursday at 5 p.m. Pacific. It’s the final matchup of Portland’s five-game road trip. A win would put the Blazers’ record at 2-3 for the trip.
