Grant scores 36 points, Blazers defeat Pistons in Payton’s debut

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Jerami Grant scored 36 points against his former team, Anfernee Simons added 30 and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Detroit Pistons 135-106 on Monday night.

Gary Payton II played 14 minute in his Portland debut. He finished with seven points and four assists. Gary Payton II is the son of a Hall of Fame guard. He missed 35 of this season’s games after undergoing surgery for a core injury. After winning the NBA championship last June with the Golden State Warriors, he signed as a free agent with the Trail Blazers.

Grant was 12 for 17 from the field, including 5 of 8 from 3-point range, and Payton’s debut buoyed a Blazers team that had lost four of five.

Bojan Bogdanovic led Detroit with 21 points, while Alec Burks got 19 from the bench.