Portland Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant sees NBA playoffs as opportunity to turn corner

PORTLAND, Ore. — As odd as it could sound, Portland Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant final performed in an NBA playoff sport within the month of September.

Grant scored 20 factors when the Denver Nuggets have been eradicated from the postseason after dropping 117-107 to the Los Angeles Lakers throughout Game 5 of the NBA Western Conference finals on Sept. 26, 2020, in Orlando, Fla. That sport befell within the NBA Bubble in the course of the coronavirus pandemic.

While Grant hasn’t performed in a playoff sport since then, two of his former groups have received NBA titles.

“I miss the playoffs so much,” Grant instructed Andscape on April 10, prior to clinching a playoff spot. “It’s been a long time. Unbelievable. I can never get accustomed to it.”

The wait might be over for Grant right now. He is formally again within the playoffs as the Western Conference’s seventh-seeded Blazers will play the No. 2 seed San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 of their first-round sequence.

Without injured All-Star guard Damian Lillard, the younger Blazers have been anticipated to rebuild, trying forward to the loaded 2026 NBA draft relatively than the playoffs. But led by All-Star forward Deni Avdija, the Blazers are maybe the shock crew of the postseason after successful their play-in event sport 114-110 in opposition to the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday.

The reward for Portland is long-shot hopes in opposition to NBA MVP candidate Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs. As for Grant, the Blazers’ opponent is secondary, as a result of he is simply blissful to be again within the postseason.

“It’s been a while of not playing very meaningful basketball,” Grant mentioned. “I’m just happy that I have a chance to play when it matters most again.”

The Blazers (42-40) completed the common season with seven wins of their final 10 video games. An enormous win in opposition to the Los Angeles Clippers at dwelling on April 10, the penultimate sport of the season, led to Portland clinching the eighth seed.

Behind a 41-point sport from Avdija, the Blazers overcame an 11-point deficit within the fourth quarter within the play-in win in opposition to the Suns. Portland additionally secured a playoff berth for the primary time since 2021.

“We have a versatile team,” Grant mentioned. “A lot of guys that can win us games, a lot of players that can defend and score the ball, so it’ll be a series of adjusting and matchups.”

Grant, who described his season as “solid,” averaged 18.6 factors, 3.5 rebounds and a couple of.1 assists in 29.7 minutes per sport for Portland. However, the 12-year NBA veteran missed the final seven video games of the common season with a proper calf pressure. Grant’s return in opposition to the Suns was a wanted enhance, as he scored 16 factors in 19 minutes in his first play-in event sport.

Blazers guard Shaedon Sharpe, who averaged 18.5 factors per sport, additionally returned to motion in the course of the regular-season finale after lacking roughly two months with a left calf pressure that led to a stress response within the left fibula.

Grant’s return in opposition to Phoenix marked the Blazers’ first totally wholesome roster, excluding Lillard, who missed the season with a ruptured Achilles tendon.

Grant and the Blazers additionally loved a pleasant break of 4 days in between video games after beating the Suns.

“My body is OK,” Grant mentioned. “I had to sit out for some things, but I’ve been getting treatment with my guy [clinician] Mike Davis. “He got me back in time for the play-in, and now he’s making sure I’m up to par to keep going, so I’m again just grateful.”

Grant was acquired by the Trail Blazers from the Detroit Pistons on July 6, 2022. Prior to Detroit, the 6-foot-7, 213-pound forward additionally performed for the Philadelphia 76ers, Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets and Thunder have each received an NBA title since Grant’s departure. The Pistons are the Eastern Conference’s prime seed.

Grant has by no means received an NBA championship, and it hasn’t been straightforward for him to see his former groups get championship rings.

“It’s tough seeing the teams I’ve been on in the playoffs doing well, winning championships and things like that,” Grant, 32, mentioned. “You want to be able to get there and be able to compete. That is great competition in the NBA, the playoffs.”

While it has been nearly six years since his final playoff sport, Grant has 35 video games of postseason expertise. He expects himself, Lillard and two-time NBA champion Jrue Holiday to speak to their Portland teammates in regards to the excessive degree of play wanted for the playoffs. The Blazers’ final playoff win got here in Game 4 of their first-round sequence in opposition to Denver on May 29, 2021.

On the flip facet, extra stress might be on Wembanyama and the title-contending Spurs. The five-time NBA champions have motive to be nervous, too, as they have not performed in a playoff sport or hosted one since their first-round look in 2019. Wembanyama might be making his NBA playoff debut Sunday.

“We have to sit down and talk to them — me, Jrue, Dame and whoever has been there,” Grant mentioned. “We simply have to clarify to them that it is a completely different degree of basketball. Everybody is scouting all of the issues that you simply do nicely. Everyone is taking part in the sport extra critical. It’s arduous to clarify.

“You feel like every team should play every game the same, but it’s just different in the playoffs. It’s more locked-in. Every coach knows every single player’s tendencies. Every player knows every team’s tendencies.”

Wembanyama and the Spurs are a extra international model in contrast to this Blazers crew, which is comparatively unknown except you’re one in every of their most ardent followers. Portland solely performed on nationwide TV six occasions in the course of the common season, however within the playoffs, basketball followers worldwide might be tuned in.

“We have a solid team. A pretty good team,” Grant mentioned. “We have a bunch of players that can score the basketball. A bunch of great defenders. We got a little bit of everything. Coming into this season, we felt like we were going to turn the corner a little bit. We’ve definitely done that.”