Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard will replace injured Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffinon the Western Conference All-Star team, the NBA announced Sunday.
Griffin will undergo surgery Monday to remove a staph infection in his elbow and is out indefinitely.
This will be Lillard’s second All-Star Game appearance after he debuted last year. His 21.6 points per game rank 13th in the NBA while he is 15th in assists with 6.3 per game. His 311 points in the fourth quarter of games leads the league, and he has made 129 3-pointers, ranking sixth overall.
He will be joined on the Western Conference squad by teammate LaMarcus Aldridge. Lillard and Aldridge give the Blazers the same two players in back-to-back All-Star Games for the first time since Maurice Lucas and Bill Walton were selected in 1977 and ’78.
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr will select Griffin’s replacement in the Western Conference starting lineup.