The 'Rookie Wall' Has Come for Scoot Henderson
Henderson broke out of a month-long slump in Friday's loss to the Clippers.
📍 PORTLAND, Ore. — Scoot Henderson’s first NBA season was already one that could be described as “up-and-down,” and then the rookie wall came.
Every time the Trail Blazers’ No. 3 overall pick has started to put a few good games together, he’s hit with a setback. It happened most recently over the All-Star break—after a good month coming off the bench, Chauncey Billups decided to reward him for his progress by putting him back in the starting lineup. Then, he picked up a groin injury during the Rising Stars game in Indianapolis.
Before that, Henderson was finally starting to look like what the Blazers, and the NBA at large, thought he’d be. He was gaining confidence in his shot, making the right passes more consistently and finishing at the basket. Before the injury, it was all trending upward.
Friday’s loss to the Clippers, Portland’s fifth in a row, was Henderson’s best game since coming back from the groin injury. He finished with 24 points on 8-of-18 shooting, five rebounds, 10 assists and two steals. It wasn’t perfect. He also had four turnovers and some of his misses were wild, directionless attempts at the rim against a tough Clippers defense. But with the month he’s had, it was an improvement.
The slump Henderson was in until Friday is unlike anything he faced in his two seasons in the G League. The NBA schedule is another thing he’s had to get used to, along with the size and physicality.
“It's a longer season now, so you kind of get that wall a little later,” Henderson said Friday night. “After 50 games in the G League, you're like, 'OK, let's play another one.' But when you hit 50 or 60 [in the NBA], it's a little tougher now.”