The Portland Trail Blazers take on the New York Knicks on Thursday night, and they could be down some serious firepower.
The Blazers announced that forward Jerami Grant will miss his second consecutive game with a hamstring strain. That’s bad enough for a Portland team that needs offense, but also team leading scorer Anfernee Simons is questionable with left knee tendinitis.
On the season, Simons is averaging 23 points per game for the Blazers this season.
Should Simons miss Thursday’s game against the Knicks, that would mean that the Blazers will be missing 44 points per game of production between he and Grant.
That would also likely mean that Scoot Henderson would move back into the starting lineup. Henderson had officially returned to the Blazers’ starting-five before coming off of the bench on a minutes restriction on Wednesday night against the Hawks. That was deemed a strictly precautionary measure by the team on the first night of a back-to-back.
With both Simons and Henderson seemingly alternating missed time this season, Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups has had a difficult time accomplishing his goal of getting both players in the starting lineup. Billups had said it’s a point of emphasis over the rest of the season to get Simons and Henderson used to playing together and, as a result, taking turns playing off the ball.
