The Portland Trail Blazers blew out the Memphis Grizzlies 135-115 on Friday night to finally snap a six-game losing streak. The game marked the return of Scoot Henderson who made his season debut after suffering a hamstring injury last summer.
Portland boasted a balanced scoring attack that was led by Jerami Grant, who finished the game with 23 points. In addition to Grant, seven other Blazers finished the game in double figures, including new addition Vit Krejci and the returning Henderson who both scored 11.
The Grizzlies also had eight players in double digits. They were led by Cam Spencer’s 18 points on 7-8 shooting from the field.
Here are some key takeaways from tonight’s game:
Henderson returned and played 21 minutes in the contest. There was some rust to be shaken off, as evidenced by his three fouls and three turnovers in the first half while going scoreless. However, despite the rocky start, he also managed six assists in that half including a beautiful pass to a cutting Grant for a dunk.
The second half is where Scoot really began to get back into rhythm. He made a three-pointer soon after checking into the game, added a free throw, then made a quick drive to the basket for an impressive dunk all within a two minute span. He added a three off the dribble in the fourth quarter to put himself at 11 points in the game. He also finished with 9 assists, 5 rebounds and a steal in the game. He did have 5 turnovers and 4 fouls as well, but that was to be expected with him reintegrating himself into the lineup.
With Jaren Jackson Jr. recently being traded and Zach Edey missing the game with injury, the Grizzlies started 6’7” Olivier-Maxence Prosper at center. That allowed Donovan Clingan to impose his will on the glass on both sides of the floor. He finished with 17 rebounds in the game, 7 offensive. His efforts helped the Blazers get 13 second-chance points in the game.
Clingan has showed elite rebounding tendencies this season, especially on the offensive glass. Coming into the game, he led the league with an average of 4.6 per game. Being able to single-handedly dominate a team without any real size gives Portland a massive edge.
Portland got off to an uninspiring start in the game. After the first quarter they trailed 36-25. In addition, it looked like Memphis couldn’t miss from behind the arc as they shot 8-15 from deep in the opening frame. The slow start did not stop the Blazers from coming back in force in the second quarter. Despite dropping behind by as many as 15 points, Portland led 68-64 at halftime.
From there, the Blazers never looked back. Hot shooting that had helped the Grizzlies build that massive lead ran dry as they made just 7 of their 26 attempts after the first period. That allowed Portland to build up a lead of their own, turning the game into a blowout for most of the second half. A 38-23 third quarter all but sealed the deal, giving Portland the win.
Shaedon Sharpe didn’t do much in the beginning of the game. He scored just two points on a pair of free throws, adding two assists and two rebounds in 13 minutes played in the first half. Unfortunately, he was not given the chance to add to those numbers as he never reemerged from the locker room following halftime. The Blazers announced on X, formerly Twitter, that Sharpe would not return to the game with a calf injury.
INJURY UPDATE: Shaedon Sharpe (L Calf) will not return to tonight’s game vs. MEM.
As of the writing of this recap, there is no update to Sharpe’s availability going forward. Sidy Cissoko filled his spot in the starting lineup out of halftime.
Portland Finally Has Point Guards
For a couple months the Blazers were playing without the services of Jrue Holiday, Scoot Henderson and Blake Wesley, leaving Deni Avdija as the de facto point guard of the team. That lack of a primary facilitator is a major factor in Portland sitting 28th in the NBA in assists per game entering this contest. However, now that the Blazers are finally getting some players back from injury, that could be about to change.
In this game Henderson had nine assists. Holiday had seven and Wesley three to contribute to Portland’s 31 total for the game. With the trio of guards finally back healthy, the Blazers got what they’ve so desperately needed: someone to run the offense outside of Deni.
When Avdija returns from his injury, the dynamic passing ability of Portland’s roster will be on full display. They won’t start leading the league or anything, but they will likely pull themselves out of the basement of the NBA, leading to a more versatile offense like the one they showed tonight.
The Blazers face the Grizzlies again tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. PST.
