{"id":410616,"date":"2026-01-16T09:40:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T09:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/410616\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T09:40:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T09:40:08","slug":"jerami-grant-returns-trail-blazers-beat-hawks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/410616\/","title":{"rendered":"Jerami Grant returns, Trail Blazers beat Hawks"},"content":{"rendered":"

After Jerami Grant<\/a> slipped on his trendy postgame fit and positioned himself in the corner of the Portland Trail Blazers<\/a> locker room, someone asked him if he thought he\u2019d be sore Friday morning. <\/p>\n

\u201cShooooot,\u201d he replied, \u201cI\u2019m going to be sore tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Welcome back, vet.<\/p>\n

Grant made a successful return to the rotation and the Blazers returned to their winning ways Thursday night, defeating the Atlanta Hawks<\/a> 117-101 before 16,196 at the Moda Center. <\/p>\n

Shaedon Sharpe<\/a> recorded 24 points, nine rebounds and five assists, Jrue Holiday<\/a> added 12 points, four assists and three steals in 21 minutes and the Blazers\u2019 bench had a difference-making performance as the Blazers won handily without Deni Avdija<\/a>. <\/p>\n

But it was the return of Grant that meant the most \u2014 big picture \u2014 on Thursday. After limping through the first half of the regular season<\/a> with the second-most injuries in the NBA, the Blazers (20-22) are finally, slowly, regaining their health. <\/p>\n

Holiday returned last week<\/a> after a 27-game absence, adding a point guard to the lineup for the first time since Nov. 14. And Grant joined his fellow veteran teammate against the Hawks (20-23), playing for the first time since Dec. 18. <\/p>\n

He checked in with 5:11 left in the first quarter to a lengthy ovation from the Moda Center faithful and scored his first bucket one minute, 19 seconds later, bursting through traffic into the paint for a tough driving layup around three Hawks defenders. Grant went on to record 16 points, three assists, two rebounds and two blocks, while making 4 of 9 shots, in a encouraging 23-minute performance off the bench. <\/p>\n

It was hardly a perfect return. Grant went just 1 of 4 from three-point range, launching one fourth quarter long-range shot off the side of the backboard. He coughed up a third quarter turnover by fumbling the ball out of bounds on a one-on-one isolation drive. He airballed a short jumper in the third quarter. <\/p>\n

But all things considered, it was a nice return.<\/p>\n

Or, as Grant put it, it was \u201csolid\u201d return.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know he might have been a little off and his rhythm was off,\u201d Holiday said. \u201cI went through that for the last couple games, so I know how it goes. But he\u2019s just a hooper and he\u2019s going to do whatever is necessary to get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grant said he started feeling \u201ca little flare up\u201d in his left Achilles \u201ca little bit before\u201d he finally sat last month. The flare up was later diagnosed as Achilles tendonitis and he ended up missing a month \u2014 14 games \u2014 for rest and rehabilitation. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was playing through it and it\u2019s something you\u2019re not really supposed to play through, obviously,\u201d Grant said. \u201cSo I heeded the warning and sat out.\u201d<\/p>\n

As that flare up calmed down, Grant said, he went through a variety of conditioning, but no scrimmaging since all the Blazers\u2019 healthy \u201cbodies were on the court\u201d for games. Grant\u2019s return Thursday marked his first five-on-five play since before he was sidelined.<\/p>\n

A casual observer might not have noticed Thursday. <\/p>\n

In the first half, Grant did a little bit of everything, producing seven points, one rebound, one assist and one block, while making 2 of 4 shots, in 12 minutes. He also chased around CJ McCollum and Jalen Johnson on defense. At the end of the third quarter, Grant created a picture-perfect final look by charging into the lane \u2014 drawing three Atlanta defenders \u2014 and kicking a pass out to Rayan Rupert, who swished a three-pointer at the buzzer. Then Grant opened the fourth quarter with another drive-and-kick to Rupert for another three, igniting a 15-2 run that delivered the Blazers a commanding 103-89 lead.<\/p>\n

In between, Grant swished a third-quarter three, nailed a one-legged fadeaway jumper over McCollum and swatted a Nickeil Alexander-Walker shot attempt. <\/p>\n

In crunch time, acting Blazers coach Tiago Splitter<\/a> used something he hasn\u2019t been able to use in recent memory: a veteran closing lineup of Holiday, Sharpe, Toumani Camara, Grant and Donovan Clingan.<\/p>\n

It almost felt like October. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a special player and a big part of this team,\u201d Clingan said of Grant. \u201cHe has the ability to knock down big-time shots. He allows us to have more guys out there who can guard 1 through 5. His activity, his knowledge, it\u2019s important. He\u2019s a vet in this league and he\u2019s been doing it for a long time. So, really, just having that is big time for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

There were other big-time Blazers performances Thursday, most notably off the bench.<\/p>\n

Rupert finished with 13 points, three steals, three rebounds and two assists in 16 minutes. Duop Reath added eight points, three rebounds and a block in 13 minutes. And Caleb Love had 12 points, three rebounds and three steals, reaching double-figures in scoring for the 13th consecutive game.<\/p>\n

The Blazers\u2019 bench outscored Atlanta\u2019s reserves 55-34, including 19-2 in the fourth quarter. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a team effort,\u201d Splitter said. <\/p>\n

But the biggest development on the team was the return of Grant. Indications are that Avdija will not be sidelined for an extended period. The Blazers\u2019 budding star was initially listed as doubtful on Thursday and he went through a light pregame workout with an assistant coach before the game, during which he moved fluidly and seemingly pain-free. <\/p>\n

When Avdija returns, the Blazers will boast their best collective health since November, a reality that helped Grant smile through a night that promised to feature a little soreness. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a really good team,\u201d Grant said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got people that can score, people that can defend, a few shooters. We have a little bit of everything. We haven\u2019t really played many games with our whole team, so it\u2019ll be exciting when we get everybody back.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After Jerami Grant slipped on his trendy postgame fit and positioned himself in the corner of the Portland…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":410617,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,1063,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-410616","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-nba","9":"tag-nba-basketball","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=410616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410616\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/410617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}