Dame won’t participate in All-Star Weekend after straining his groin [UPDATE]

UPDATE: 10:45 p.m. - Lillard has said that he won’t compete in the All Star festivities this weekend. Not only will he not play in the game, he’s also removing himself from the three-point contest. It’s not clear who will replace him, but Dame vouched for Devin Booker, who was seen as a snub when rosters were announced.

UPDATE: 10:36 p.m. - Lillard has been diagnosed with a groin strain and will get an MRI on Thursday. This could force him to sit out of the All-Star Game this weekend.

The good news for the Trail Blazers is that Damian Lillard ($10,200) will have time to heal up during the All-Star break. He got injured with a minute left in the game, so it’s unclear how significantly he hurt his groin. Portland had essentially already lost the game to the Memphis Grizzlies when Lillard went the to locker room. This was a terrible loss for the Blazers, who now fall four games out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. They can’t afford to lose Dame for an extended period of time.

In other news, Hassan Whiteside ($8,400) got ejected after a little dustup with Jonas Valanciunas ($7,300) as the game finished. Whiteside flexed in JV’s face with seconds left in the game, which was an odd time to taunt. Valanciunas had the last laugh as the Grizzlies dominated and he scored a game-high 44,5 DKFP.