When Blazers’ Scoot Henderson knew he was in for a huge game vs. Spurs

Scoot Henderson is breaking out on the grand postseason stage. On Tuesday night, Henderson had perhaps his best game yet as a professional, leading the Portland Trail Blazers in scoring with 31 points on 11-17 shooting from the field to score an upset victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 2 of their 2026 NBA playoffs first-round matchup.

This was quite the follow-up to his solid performance in Game 1 when he had 18 points on 7-11 shooting from the field. It’s clear that he’s gaining the trust of head coach Tiago Splitter, as he was out there on the floor during crunch time and he made a few big shots to help the Blazers overturn a 13-point deficit with less than eight minutes to go in the final period.

The 22-year-old guard is brimming with confidence to the point where he declared that he knew he was in for a big scoring night when he first gained consciousness earlier today.

“[I realized I had it tonight] when I woke up. I woke up, brushed my teeth, went downstairs, got dressed for shootaround. Just a feeling. Kinda telling myself the night before, ‘Just attack. They can’t mess with you.’ That was my goal here, to come here and attack, get downhill, play hard, and whatever happens, happens,” Henderson said in his postgame presser.

Reporter: "When did you realize you had it tonight?"

Scoot Henderson: "When I woke up."

Scoot had a bigtime 31-point performance to send the series back to Portland tied

(via @NBA)pic.twitter.com/jnm3rPzQj9

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 22, 2026

It may have taken some time, but Henderson, the former third overall pick for the Blazers, is coming into his own. There’s a reason why he was so well-regarded as a prospect, even belonging in conversations alongside Victor Wembanyama.

It may have helped Henderson that he has the best mentors he could ever hope to learn from in Jrue Holiday and Damian Lillard — with the former teaching him how to be a better defender, and the latter coaching him how to flesh out his offensive game.

And Henderson’s two-way game is coming into the forefront as the Blazers try to use this victory as a springboard for a series upset, especially amid Wembanyama’s injury.

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