TUALATIN — Evan Turner on Tuesday downplayed his sore left Achilles, saying that while he might be “old” he also would be returning to the Portland Trail Blazers’ lineup Wednesday night when they host the Utah Jazz.

“The Achilles is smooth, my Achilles is straight,” he said after a Blazers’ workout at the practice facility in Tualatin. “It was sore, swollen. Obviously it hurt a little bit before the (last) game. But I’ve been getting rest for a couple days. I was able to practice and that’s it. I’m going to play.”

Turner’s Achilles flared up during the Blazers’ victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday and, after undergoing an examination at halftime, the team’s training staff told Turner to sit out the second half. It was the second time this season he’s had to sit because of the ailment — he did not play at San Antonio on Dec. 2 — but Turner said it’s something that actually has been bothering him for two years, usually when the schedule is heavy with games.

He said he undergoes daily therapy to ease swelling and discomfort, mixing massage with mobility exercises and calf raises. He even wears a walking boot at night when he sleeps.

“I’m no spring chicken — I’m getting old,” he said, joking. “I’m 30 now, so it’s all downhill from here.”

Despite the longevity of the issue and the treatment needed to keep him healthy, Turner scoffed when asked if he was worried about the issue ballooning into something serious. Most of the time, he said, it’s the training staff that makes him sit.

“I’m fine,” he said. “All this sounds like 10 times worse than what it is. It’s simple. You just go out and play. I’m going to suit up and play. When I play, I try not to think about anything else. When you do, it gets mental. I think it’s all mental.”

The good news is that the Blazers are in the early stages of a favorable part of their schedule that features just one game — against the Jazz on Wednesday — over a nine-day stretch. The team had Sunday off and coach Terry Stotts likely will give his team two more days off this week. Combine that with a weeklong All-Star break that starts Valentine’s Day and the Blazers are staring at a rare gift. After a grueling early-season schedule considered the second-toughest heading into the New Year, it’s a welcome respite.

“That’s heaven,” Turner said. “I don’t even believe it’s happening. It’s crazy. I don’t believe it’s happening.”

But while Turner said he was looking forward to a little R&R, he added that it wasn’t imperative. When someone suggested they would be worried if they had been dealing with Achilles pain for two years, he chuckled.

“Yeah, but I’m a superhuman,” he said. “That’s the difference. You feel me? Think about the rest of my resume on and off the court, how unreal I am, how dope I am. It’s easy. You can’t even factor that into the equation.”

WORKOUT CHAMP

When Damian Lillard strolled over for a post-practice interview session Tuesday, he sported a gigantic circular medallion hanging from a thick gold chain and wide smile across his face.

Lillard had earned the Blazers’ “Workout of the Day” award, which goes to the player who owns the weight room that day. The medallion, which features the phrase “FLEX ON EM” and a flexing caricature with a Blazers pinwheel logo, is the badge of honor.

And, the way Lillard tells the story, the gaudy necklace resting on around his neck was long overdue.

“The previous two times that we had this, I didn’t get it,” Lillard said. “I was really tired those days. I really didn’t want to do it, but I pushed through like a champ. Got through it. And they didn’t give it to me. I told them, ‘The next time this happens, I’m not lifting.’ And guess what?”

Lillard earned a little payback Tuesday.

“This is what the hard work was for,” he said. “They rewarded me.”

Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard earned the Blazers’ “Workout of the Day” award, which goes to the player who owns the weight room that day.

LILLLARD TRIPLE-DOUBLE NEXT?

Lillard watched admiringly as CJ McCollum recorded the first triple-double of his career (28 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds) Saturday night. And Lillard played an important part of Jusuf Nurkic’s triple-double (10 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assist) last week, making a late three-pointer to deliver the Blazers’ starting center his 10th assist.

Now, the way the Blazers’ All-Star point guard sees it, it’s his turn.

“They know that I could have gotten one already,” Lillard said, chuckling. “But I guess it’s time to go out there and just do it. I try not to. I try not to make it an emphasis. Now I’ve got to get one.”

Lillard has come close multiple times over the years, including three times this season. He finished with 33 points, eight rebounds and eight assists at Dallas on Dec. 4, recorded 31 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds at the Los Angeles Lakers on Nov. 14 and had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists at Washington on Oct. 22. And he’ll never forget the time, at Detroit on Feb. 28, 2017, that Nurkic cost him the statistical milestone.

“Nurk actually blew my triple-double, what should have been my first triple-double,” Lillard said. “Y’all can find this footage. I had 34 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. I dished the ball to Nurk right under the basket for my 10th assist, and he just missed it uncontested. Just missed the layup. I’m like, ‘Maybe I’m just not meant to have a triple-double.'”

Sure enough, Lillard finished with 34 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists in an overtime loss to the Pistons. Nurkic missed a layup with 3:33 left that would have tied the game 111-111.

When somebody told Lillard — who talked tongue in cheek about his triple-double failures — he should have botched the late-game three that delivered Nurkic his triple-double, he scoffed.

“See, that’s the difference,” Lillard said. “I’m going to make it happen for him.”

Joe Freeman | jfreeman@oregonian.com | 503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman | Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox