The Portland Trail Blazers could be without a key scorer when the take on the Chicago Bulls on Monday.
Blazers forward Jerami Grant is listed as doubtful with his lingering hamstring strain.
Grant has missed three straight games for the Blazers, and six out of the team's last seven. He initially suffered the injury against the Memphis Grizzlies on March 2, when Portland played the second of two consecutive games in Memphis.
With Grant likely out for a fourth straight game, much of the team's scoring load will continue to fall on guards Anfernee Simons and Dalano Banton, as well as surging center Deandre Ayton. Grant is averaging 21 points for the Blazers this season. He also grabs 3.5 rebounds and dishes out 2.8 assists per night.
In Grant's absence of late, Blazers coach Chauncey Billups has opted to reinsert rookie Toumani Camara into the starting lineup. Camara isn't nearly the scorer that Grant is, but is stronger on the glass and much more versatile defensively than Grant.
As the Blazers close out the season, they're focused on player development, meaning that getting the young guys time is just as valuable as a win at this point. Earlier in the month, Simons spoke about the team's youth movement:
“I think everybody's making good progress as a team. I mean, obviously, we've got guys coming in and out of the rotation. We've got guys getting injured. So it kind of messes up how we want to develop as a team. If [the rotation] changes every week, you've got to pivot and figure it out from there.”
Simons then shouted out the Blazers young rotation players. “Kris [Murray] goes into the starting lineup, he's been playing hard. Duop [Reath] gets to the starting lineup and has been playing well. [Rayan Rupert] coming in, last two games, he gets some playing time and goes in playing as hard as he can. That's all you want to see from those guys, and just continue to get better.”
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