West Notes: Blazers, Scoot Henderson, Clippers, James Harden, Mavs

Trail Blazers

Rookie point guard Scoot Henderson didn’t stay in the G League for long, as expected. Turns out, it was less than 24 hours.

The Blazers assigned Henderson to the Rip City Remix on Tuesday, then recalled him shortly thereafter. Henderson was officially assigned to the Remix for purposes of conditioning and trying to work his way back to a game with the parent club.

Henderson has been sidelined since spraining his right ankle vs. the Pistons on Nov. 1. The No. 3 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, Henderson was off to a tough start, averaging 8.8 points, 4.6 assists, and 4.0 turnovers, and shooting 35 percent from the field.

• Veteran guard Malcolm Brogdon did return to the lineup Tuesday after missing time with a hamstring strain. The Blazers are often a different team with him on the court. “When you’re coming back off injury in this league, it’s all about getting a rhythm,” Brogdon told reporters. “There’s always a little bit of apprehension not wanting to redo anything but personally, I felt good.”

Clippers

Don’t look now, but the Clippers have won two straight with James Harden after losing their first five. And Harden did indeed say he’s starting to get into a rhythm.

“The more reps, the more you get comfortable,” he told reporters. “The more you try to understand where guys’ spots are on the floor and where can I attack and get mine. As games go by, you see us get more comfortable.”

• Monday’s win over the Spurs marked a return to San Antonio for Kawhi Leonard, who was booed every time he touched the ball. “It’s a competitive fan base,” Leonard said. “They want to win every game. Once I come into the game, there’s going to be boos, but walking around the city or going to restaurants, they show love.”

Mavericks

While there’s never any shortage of scoring with the likes of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, Mavs coach Jason Kidd wants to see more from the entire team defensively.

“We can complain about the schedule, about the time, about the floor, whatever we want to complain about,” Kidd told reporters. “But we’ve got to play the game, and we’ve got to be pros about it. It’s about energy and effort and attitude.

“We can’t give up both points in the paint and open 3s, and that’s what we’re doing right now, Even in our wins, our defense isn’t very good, so our offense is our defense. I said that earlier, until we can understand and be connected on the defensive end and make strides, our best defense is our offense, and when we aren’t scoring 130 points, it’s hard to win.”