The Portland Trail Blazers’ three-game winning streak was cut short on Wednesday, as they fell 133-109 to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Scoot Henderson’s play was the silver lining to the blowout loss. Portland’s young guard finished with 18 points (5-8 FG, 3-5 3Pt, 5-5 FT), four rebounds, and two assists in just 19 minutes.
Henderson was one of the few bright spots, tying Robert Williams III with a team-best plus/minus of -1. While plus/minus can be misleading, that’s particularly encouraging in Scoot’s case. He had a historically bad rookie season, setting records for all the wrong reasons, including a -58 — the worst in NBA history until Utah Jazz forward Cody Williams recently set the record with a -60 in January.
In other words, Scoot has already come a long way and is already a much more impactful player in Year 3.
Scoot Henderson’s growth is the bright spot in Portland’s loss
Admittedly, it’s been a small sample of just three games in 2025-26 as he’s missed the majority of the season with a hamstring tear suffered in an offseason workout. But the eye test suggests that this level of impact on winning is here to stay.
Many expected that to be the case with the progress Henderson showed last season, combined with a promising offseason of development. Unfortunately, that momentum was derailed by such an untimely injury.
With Deni Avdija’s ascension and Jrue Holiday now in the picture, it left many to wonder how Henderson would fit into this backcourt and offensive hierarchy. It hasn’t been the smoothest transition, as there’s been inevitable rust in his jumper and in his decision-making. Scoot is shooting just 20% from beyond the arc and averaging 3.5 turnovers per game. Those growing pains compounded two previous roster weaknesses. That was on full display in their loss to Minnesota, where Scoot recorded five turnovers, and Portland had more turnovers (25) than assists (23) as a team.
But the good news is Henderson should naturally improve in those areas as he gains more in-game reps and readjusts to the speed of the game. Most importantly, he’s still found ways to positively influence the outcome. The one-on-one defense looks significantly improved. You can tell he’s been working with Jrue on that side of the ball. That Henderson-Holiday connection was also apparent in this loss to Minnesota as the two shared the backcourt well in the second half.
In the scheme of things, how Scoot develops is going to be much more important than this one loss, no matter how bad it was. The Blazers have invested so much into their point guard with a No. 3 overall pick, and they need him to pan out to elevate their entire rebuilding ceiling. Given how he’s looked so far this season, that’s become an increasingly realistic possibility.