Scoot Henderson was finally available to play on the road against the Los Angeles Lakers after missing the Portland Trail Blazers' past four games with a quad contusion. The Blazers fell to the Lakers 107-98 and are on a four-game losing streak, with their only win during Henderson's absence coming over the Sacramento Kings.
Scoot played 21 minutes in their loss to LA, finishing with 13 points, two rebounds, and one steal on 3-6 shooting from the field and 1-3 shooting from deep. His only three-point make? An incredible shot from behind half-court to close out the third quarter:
SCOOT HENDERSON HITS A WILD SHOT FROM BEYOND HALFCOURT 😱 pic.twitter.com/js4h6IbaOL
— NBA TV (@NBATV) December 9, 2024
John Hollinger of The Athletic mentioned Henderson amongst the NBA's biggest disappointments. Hollinger highlighted multiple concerns, saying, "I wish I could tell you things look different, but they really don't. A 30.2 percent 3-point percentage? Wild finishes leading to a 45.7 percent mark inside the arc? Marching up the leaderboard in turnovers per 100 possessions? Yep, we've seen this movie before."
Henderson showcased flashes of all those concerns in his Blazers return. He had a few careless plays in the first half, between unnecessarily forcing passes or recklessly driving in the paint only to throw up a wild shot. But to Henderson's credit, he settled down in the second half, playing with much more poise.
The most encouraging stat was his 6-6 free throw attempts, which was a team-high. It's unrealistic to expect Henderson to be an efficient three-point shooter at this stage in his career. He needs to find other ways to be impactful offensively, using his strength of attacking the paint and putting pressure on the defense.
He certainly did that in this matchup. However, it's fair to question how much Henderson's ability to get to the paint and charity stripe also contributed to their matchup, as Gabe Vincent and D'Angelo Russell are undersized guards not known for their defense. Hopefully, he will sustain that level of success attacking the paint going forward.
The growth is far from linear, but Scoot is slowly addressing at least some of these issues Hollinger mentions. He's improved in finishing around the rim and is learning how and when to decelerate (often through trial and error to the Blazers' detriment). We all know his three-point shooting remains a work in progress. However, two other areas he needs to improve are playmaking and defense.
Henderson is the only player on the entire Blazers' roster who can be considered a genuine point guard, yet he had three turnovers and zero assists this game. That alone prevents this from being a game that receives an "A" grade.
On the other side of the ball, Henderson is arguably the worst defender on the Blazers' roster. They have the worst defensive rating with him on the court (119.08) compared to any other player. He wasn't impactful on that side of the ball against the Lakers, but similarly to his three-point shooting woes, that's just become the new norm in terms of lowered standards for their former No. 3 overall selection that they may be regretting by now.
It was a typical Scoot Henderson game, with flashes of both promise and concern. Overall, the takeaway from his first game back was cautious optimism.
Grade: C+