Trail Blazers Lose to Houston In First Summer League Game, 100-99
By STEVEN VAUGHAN, 750 THE GAME
The Trail Blazers lost to the Houston Rockets 100-99 in the first game of Summer League on an exciting game-winning shot by Jabari Smith Jr.
The outcome of the game isn’t as important as the fact that we got to see Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe on the court together for the first time.
Henderson, the third overall pick, left the game with a right shoulder injury. He will undergo an MRI to determine the severity.
Scoot Henderson had a strong start scoring 13 points in his first quarter of action, showing off everything that led to him being the third overall pick. The speed, quickness, finishing ability, and the explosiveness were all on display. Henderson even hit a three-point shot which is not known to be a strength of his, at least not yet.
Henderson finished with 15 points on 5-13 shooting, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds in 21 minutes. Henderson didn’t shoot the ball efficiently but he showed enough in the first quarter to prove he was worth the third pick in the draft.
Defensively there are things he needs to improve on, but Henderson did show some good on ball defensive skills by moving his feet.
Shaedon Sharpe was also impressive in the first game scoring 21 points on 7-21 shooting and chipping in 8 rebounds.
The athleticism is there for Shaedon Sharpe. No doubt about it. But I was not as impressed with the way he struggled to get his own shot off. He was guarded by Tari Eason and Jabari Smith Jr. much of the game, and had a hard time getting clean looks. It’s one of the areas I want to see him improve. He also made a couple of ill-advised passes that didn’t work. A sloppy, yet still impressive performance for Sharpe.
The Blazers are back at it on Sunday night against the Spurs and Victor Wembanyama.
