The Portland Trail Blazers are playing their best basketball of the season, now winning six of their last seven games after a 119-90 win over the Orlando Magic. A win that is convincing requires several players to play well, as was the case with Portland, where three players -- Deandre Ayton, Scoot Henderson, and Shaedon Sharpe-- scored over 20 points.
The Blazers' young backcourt duo of Henderson and Sharpe showed promising signs of what's to come in Portland as they continue to sort out their messy roster. With Jerami Grant out due to right ankle soreness, the Blazers played a bit smaller than they typically have during their hot stretch, starting Henderson and Simons together in the backcourt, along with Deni Avdija, Toumani Camara, and Deandre Ayton to round out the starting five.
Scoot Henderson's performance was a clear reminder that he's Portland's future point guard
Henderson benefited from the starting lineup promotion, finishing with 23 points, seven assists, five rebounds, and two steals. He shot 7-of-16 from the field, 3-5 from deep, and 6-6 from the charity stripe. Plus-minus isn't always the most telling stat, but something has to be said for the fact that Scoot had the best on the team at +27.
Henderson is having arguably the best stretch of his young career, and a large part of that has to do with his newfound three-point shot.
this scoot stat I just dropped on the @trailblazers broadcast 👀 pic.twitter.com/kAVr4949fD
— Mr. Statistician Face Man (@tomhaberstroh) January 31, 2025
Over the past ten games, the Blazers guard is shooting 44.4 percent from beyond the arc. He finishes the month of January averaging 14.0 points, 5.2 assists, and 3.3 rebounds on efficient 49/43/78 shooting splits.
Inconsistent play remains an issue, as is the case with just about any 20-year-old. Scoot still had five games scoring under ten points this month. However, the good games are finally outnumbering the bad ones, as Scoot has had six games this month in which he scored at least 20 points.
Think this is probably the first month where Scoot Henderson has officially had more solid-to-outright-good games than bad ones. Starting to get some real signs here.
— Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) January 31, 2025
After a highly up-and-down rookie season, that is a significant step in his development. We also can't help but wonder if he would have played more consistently this month had his role been more consistent, as Scoot has bounced in and out of the starting lineup due to injuries and Chauncey Billups' indecisiveness.
Regardless, Henderson's breakout is coming at the perfect time as GM Joe Cronin and the Blazers front office have key roster decisions to make prior to the February 6th trade deadline. Scoot has shown enough consistent flashes for them to feel comfortable moving off of Anfernee Simons and handing over the keys to the backcourt.