The Portland Trail Blazers finished their five-game homestand with a 1-3 week, culminating with an 11-point win over the Chicago Bulls. Their previous three games, lopsided losses to the Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Clippers and Houston Rockets, capped a five-game losing streak. Finally back in the W column, the Blazers head back on the road, with one player showing marked improvement.
This week’s Blazer of the Week should be no surprise to anyone: Scoot Henderson.
Let’s recap Scoot’s best week as a pro. Kickstarted with a 39-point masterpiece that included an 8/10 performance from three-point range, Henderson finished the week averaging 25.3 points, 7.8 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game while shooting 56.9% from the field and 53.3% from beyond the arc.
During this week Henderson looked much more comfortable and confident than he has at any other point in his career. He was given full control of the offense against Chicago, due to an Anfernee Simons injury, and was able to operate at a very high level. His turnover numbers were still somewhat high, 3.8 per game, but paired with his assist numbers, his assist-to-turnover ratio was still above 2-1, much better than his career average.
Scoot has struggled early in his career, but this recent play has looked sustainable. Of course he won’t shoot 80% from three every game, but the aggressiveness with which he is attacking the basket is leading to both easy layups and dump off passes. Those are both areas where he has struggled early in his career. His improvement has also come in his decision making.
Turnovers because of bad passes or sloppy play are becoming less frequent, and passes leading to assists or good shot attempts are skyrocketing. According to NBA.com, Henderson is second only to Trae Young in potential assists per game, a stat that measures the amount of good shots passes have created, over the last four games with 17.0 potential assists per game.
This trend over the last few games is incredibly promising and has shown Henderson maturing as a player very rapidly. His hot streak shows no signs of slowing down any time soon, and his abilities as both a scorer and playmaker have been on full display.
This week I am breaking tradition and doing no honorable mention. With so many players in and out of the lineup, it is tough to give one, but I also believe Henderson’s remarkable week should stand on its own.
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