Scoot Henderson strutted to his postgame interview session Friday night wearing a glimmering diamond watch, an oversized diamond-encrusted No. 00 pendant around his neck and a smile on his face that was perhaps brighter than both.
It had been 316 days since the Portland Trail Blazers point guard last played in a game, so there was reason to glow.
“Amazing,” Henderson said, describing his return from a season-long left hamstring injury.
The feeling seemed to be unanimous.
Henderson made his season-debut and the Blazers snapped out of their worst funk of the season Friday night at the Moda Center, breezing past the Memphis Grizzlies 135-115.
Jrue Holiday recorded 20 points, seven assists and five rebounds, Jerami Grant scored 23 points and Donovan Clingan added 13 points and 17 rebounds. But as the Blazers (24-28) dismissed their season-long six-game losing streak, it was the return of their third-year point guard that had 16,895 buzzing at Moda Center.
Henderson checked into the game for the first time with 7:39 left in the first quarter, drawing a lengthy ovation that featured a drawn-out “Scooooooooooooot!” roar from the Rip City faithful. He didn’t waste much time working into the action, bursting into the lane during his first offensive possession and lobbing a pretty alley-oop lob to Clingan.
The Blazers’ center elevated, reached for the pass … and mishandled the ball.
There were more missteps. Two possessions later, Henderson crossed halfcourt, encountered a pair of Memphis defenders and shoved one to the floor trying to clear space, causing an offensive foul — and his first turnover. Henderson went on to commit four more. His first shot, a pull-up three from the top of the key, missed badly off the backboard. He missed his first three shot attempts.
But there was also a cornucopia of highlights. Early in his second shift, Henderson wrestled away a steal from GG Jackson under the Grizzlies basket, streaked the other way to initiate a fast break and tossed an outlet to Sidy Cissoko, who drew a foul. Then, later in the quarter, Henderson had a Welcome Back sequence.
During a sensational 90-second stretch in the second quarter, Henderson tossed four assists and snared two rebounds. The run included a beautiful drive-and-kick pass to Toumani Camara for a three-pointer and a nice toss to a trailing Grant in transition that ended with a monster one-handed dunk. When the stretch was over, the Blazers had tied the game 51-51, overcoming a 15-point deficit.
They never trailed again.
And Henderson only looked better as the game went on.
He made his first field goal on his first attempt in the third quarter, swishing a three off a pass from Grant with 7:40 left, and he added a driving one-handed dunk roughly three minutes later. By the end of the night, Henderson had recorded 11 points, nine assists and five rebounds. He made just 4 of 10 shots, including 2 of 7 three-pointers, and committed five turnovers. But considering he hadn’t played in nearly 11 months, it was an impressive performance.
“Scoot was amazing,” Grant said. “He came out, pushed the pace … (was) finding everybody, picking his spots. I think he showed that he’s been putting in work.”
It had been a long time coming. Henderson tore his left hamstring the week before training camp and the initial diagnosis was that he would miss between four and eight weeks. Instead, the injury lingered for four months, sidelining Henderson for 51 games.
It was all but a worst-case-scenario for the No. 3 pick of the 2023 NBA Draft, who entered the season facing increased scrutiny after failing to establish himself as the point guard of the future over his first two seasons. But Henderson downplayed the notion he’s approaching the final 30 games of the season with any added pressure.
“Like I always say, I think they believe in me,” Henderson said of the Blazers’ front office and coaching staff. “I think they know what I’m capable of. It’s more of just playing with rhythm, playing with flow and good things happen while I’m on the floor.”
At the very least, Friday was a promising start.
Before the game, Henderson sat in his locker with his back facing the room, sporting a laser-focused stare. Clingan joked that it was his teammate’s “Dillon Brooks stare,” but Henderson said he was just mentally preparing for his first game, running over sets and schemes in his head.
For more than two months, as injuries ravaged the roster, the Blazers didn’t have a healthy point guard in the rotation. Now, they’re suddenly flush with ball-handlers, as Holiday returned on Jan. 11 and Blake Wesley and Henderson have returned in the last week.
The difference was obvious against the Grizzlies (20-30) — the Blazers finished with 31 assists on 49 field goals and committed just 18 turnovers, revealing an impressive array of passing and ball movement.
“We’ve been trying to just move (the ball) around as a team,” Clingan said. “With Scoot, the way he attacks downhill and finds open guys — to get nine assists tonight … and spread that thing (around) — it’s nice to see and it’s great for our team.”
After 316 days, 51 games and countless hours in rehabilitation, Henderson finally had a reason to smile Friday.
But, if you ask him, it didn’t have anything to do with assists, sensational 90-second stretches or Moda Center ovations.
“We got the win,” Henderson said. “I’m not really thinking too much about how I played. I know I can do better in all areas. But the big thing is, big picture, we got the win that we needed.”