Scoot Henderson easily had the best four-game stretch of his young career.
And the Blazers decided to bench him.
A Sizzling Stretch
Starting with a stellar 39-point performance against the Brooklyn Nets on Jan. 14 — where Henderson went 13/18 from the field, 8/10 from three, and tallied six assists — the No. 3 overall pick carried a decisive and efficient playstyle through the rest of the Blazers’ homestand.
Adding in the contests against the Clippers, Rockets and Bulls over the next five days, Henderson averaged 25.3 points on 57/53/79 shooting splits, with a 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio— a mark many fans have been waiting for the point guard to hit consistently. Scoot was playing aggressively yet controlled and looked to be finding a groove.
Scoot started all four of the aforementioned home games and was given the nod in the Blazers’ first of a three-game road trip in Miami on Tuesday. While his scoring numbers weren’t as high as they had been against the Heat, he was still facilitating and getting his teammates involved, notching eight assists and going 4/8 from the field.
Two days later, in Orlando, the Blazers benched Scoot in favor of the returning Toumani Camara, who had missed the previous game with an illness. A tall lineup that featured the 6-foot-9 wing Deni Avdija at the two-guard position played exceptionally well, particularly on the defensive end. The decision by Billups and the rest of the Blazers’ coaching staff to bench Scoot in place of more experienced veterans worked out.
But it undoubtedly knocked Scoot out of his rhythm.
Down Night in Orlando
The Blazers held Orlando to 79 points in the game.
Highlighted by one of Paolo Banchero’s career-worst games (1/14 from the field) and a total of 22 team turnovers — 15 of which came in the first half — the Blazers were furiously frustrating on the defensive end. Whenever a Magic player caught the ball, a Blazer immediately challenged them face-to-face. The energy was infectious, but Scoot came down with a cold.
Trying to match his teammates’ spirit, Scoot came off the bench playing a little too aggressively. In just 14 minutes of game time, Scoot fouled out, his first time doing so this season.
To whom to point the blame is up for debate. Should Scoot have been playing so recklessly? Likely not. Was Chauncey goading him and the rest of the team into getting in the bodies of the Magic players in an attempt to match their opponents’ league-leading defense? Almost certainly.
It likely lies between a combination of the two. Scoot had plenty of pent-up energy, and with so much still to prove, he was ready to release it from the bench. So when Chauncey told him to go be aggressive, that’s exactly what he did.
What Next for Scoot Henderson?
Blazer fans felt frustrated as the coaching staff halted the momentum Scoot Henderson had built over the past five games.
It would have been one thing if Scoot had continued to start and had reverted to his frantic ways on his own, but the coaching staff forced the young guard to adjust, and he failed to do so.
With the trade deadline approaching, the Blazers have more questions to answer than just about any other team. They have an abundance of role players and a logjam at every position. The Blazers winning games isn’t a bad thing — although many fans would rather the team start tanking harder — but doing so at the cost of developing talent that is supposed to push you over the top eventually is.
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