Portland Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant is out for Friday night’s game at the Denver Nuggets with lower back tightness, the team announced minutes before the game.
He had not been listed on the injury report. Toumani Camara returned to the starting lineup in place of Grant. Grant left the team’s loss Friday at San Antonio in the first half with back soreness and did not return. He returned to action Sunday against Chicago and also played Monday versus Philadelphia and Wednesday against Milwaukee.
Deandre Ayton and Anfernee Simons combined for 39 points to keep the Portland Trail Blazers relatively competitive for most of the their game Monday night against the Boston Celtics at the Moda Center.
But ultimately, the team with the best record in the NBA proved to be too deep, skilled and versatile for the Blazers and pulled away in the fourth quarter to win 121-99.
Ayton led the Blazers with 22 points and 15 rebounds. Simons scored 17 but shot just 6 of 18 from the field.
The Celtics (50-14) were led by Jaylen Brown, who scored 27 points on 13-of-29 shooting. Jayson Tatum added 26 with eight assists. Former Oregon Ducks and West Linn High School star Payton Pritchard started in place of the injured Jrue Holiday and put up 11 points with eight assists and eight rebounds.
