Portland Trail Blazers Dominate London Lions in Preseason Blowout

The Portland Trail Blazers had an interesting preseason test on Monday, taking on the London Lions at Moda Center. It’s not uncommon for NBA teams to face international clubs during exhibition play, but in this particular case, the result was a blowout from start to finish.

Portland cruised to a 119-66 victory to improve to 2-0 in the preseason, getting important contributions from players throughout the rotation.

Again, this wasn’t against an NBA opponent, so the level of competition has to be taken into account. But it still gave the Blazers an opportunity to try some different things, get their younger players meaningful minutes and continue building toward the regular season. Ultimately, they handled business in dominant fashion.

After jumping out to a 34-21 advantage following the first quarter, the Blazers outscored London 38-12 in the second frame and carried a commanding 72-33 lead into halftime. By the end of the third quarter, Portland had reached the 100-point mark and held a 50-plus-point advantage, and of course never looked back.

Scoot Henderson and Toumani Camara led the scoring effort with 14 points apiece, but Henderson in particular was the star of the show. He knocked down four of his five attempts from beyond the arc, adding three assists and two steals in just over 16 minutes of action.

Henderson has always been able to get to the cup and use his speed as a downhill driver, but if his outside shot is now coming around, that makes him a completely different type of offensive prospect. It’s just one preseason game, but this was an encouraging showing for the young guard.

Yang Hansen also made the most of his opportunity, finishing with 13 points, four rebounds and four assists while shooting an efficient 6-of-8 from the floor. He continues to carve out a role as an important big man of the future for Portland, and performances like this only help his case.

It was an incredibly efficient offensive game for Portland from all over the floor. The Blazers shot 56.3% from the field, dished out 32 assists and dominated the glass with a 51-32 rebounding advantage. Sidy Cissoko also chipped in 13 points on perfect shooting.

Overall, there was very little negative to take away from this game, which is somewhat expected given the competition. Even with the starters playing limited minutes, Portland’s depth proved overwhelming on both ends of the floor.

From here, the Blazers will take on the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday in what should be a much more competitive preseason matchup.