Portland Started Scoot Henderson Next to Damian Lillard and Benched Ja Morant. Nobody Has Explained Why.
Portland started Damian Lillard and Scoot Henderson together in the backcourt Tuesday night and brought Ja Morant off the bench for the first time this preseason. The Blazers won 110-98 over Sacramento. Nobody from the organization has explained the decision.
That last part matters more than the lineup itself. Frankie Cartoscelli of KHTK Sactown Sports 1140 reported the starting five pregame: Lillard, Henderson, Deni Avdija, Toumani Camara and Donovan Clingan. There is no quote from the head coach about why, and nothing from Morant. The lineup changed and the explanation never arrived.
So take it for exactly what is on the record. A preseason starting five, six days before the games count.
What Henderson did with the minutes
Henderson played 18 minutes and scored 9 points on 3-of-9 shooting, including 2-of-5 from three and 1-of-2 at the line, with 4 assists and a rebound. That is a reasonable night, and not one that settles a positional argument.
The most impressive Blazer was Clingan, who put up 5 blocks, 4 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists in 20 minutes. Five blocks in 20 preseason minutes tends to influence a rotation faster than a 3-of-9 shooting line does.
RotoWire read the move as Portland wanting “to see how Ja Morant would look coming off the second unit,” and described the backcourt as “fluid rather than settled.” That analyst does not expect Morant to remain a reserve once the season starts, which is the sensible expectation given who he is.
The vacuum is the story
A roster with Lillard, Morant and Henderson has more lead guards than it has guard minutes, and sorting out which combinations work is exactly what the preseason is for. Coaches try things in October because the result does not go in the standings.
But silence from everyone involved leaves room for invention. There is no reporting that this was a punishment. There is no reporting of a disagreement, and nothing on the record about Morant’s standing in the building or his reaction to the change. Anyone telling you what this means about the relationship is guessing.
The verified facts are the starting lineup, the minutes and the final score. Everything else is a theory, and theories about a star guard’s bench role are the kind that take on a life of their own if nobody in the building addresses them.
Sacramento had the worse night
Nique Clifford started for the Kings and went 0-for-11 from the field, finishing with 2 points, 5 assists and a block in 30 minutes. Keegan Murray had 10 points and 4 rebounds in 19 minutes. Eleven misses in 30 minutes is a rough evening, though the right response to it is the same as the right response to Henderson’s line: wait for real games.
The regular season opens Tuesday, Oct. 20. If Morant is a reserve that night, this stops being a preseason curiosity and becomes a question Portland has to answer out loud. Until then, the Blazers tried something in a game nobody records and said nothing about it, which is their right, and also precisely why everyone is asking.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
