After beating the Phoenix Suns 114-110 on Tuesday, the Portland Trail Blazers arranged a playoff showdown against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs. While Wemby and Blazers forward Deni Avdija will headline the matchup, an intriguing battle between the Frenchman and Scoot Henderson is also a subplot in the first-round series.
Fans reacted to the upcoming series featuring two of the highly touted youngsters who squared off in 2022. One fan wrote:
“From a Vegas exhibition in 2022 to the Western Conference playoffs in 2026. This is what the league envisioned when they hyped that G-League Ignite vs Metropolitans 92 game. The future is officially here.”
Another fan added:
“Scoot doesn’t play like that anymore.”
One more fan continued:
“Some matchups take time, but the hype ages perfectly.”
Another fan commented:
“Nah, mentioning Scoot with Wemby’s name is blasphemous.”
One fan tweeted:
“Lol. Don’t make this about Scoot. This is Deni vs Wemby.”
In October 2022, Victor Wembanyama’s Metropolitans 92 team visited Las Vegas for an exhibition game against Scoot Henderson’s G-League Ignite. Scouts, analysts and fans trooped to the T-Mobile Arena to watch the players who were expected to go No. 1 and 2 in the 2023 NBA draft.
Henderson and Wembanyama dazzled on opposing ends. The athletic guard, who had 22 points that included multiple highlight reel plays, led Ignite to a 122-115 win. Wemby was even more dominant in his first game in the United States, putting up 37 points, five blocks and four assists. The Frenchman went 11-for-20, including 7-for-11 from deep.
Roughly eight months after the showdown in Las Vegas, Victor Wembanyama went No. 1 to San Antonio while Scoot Henderson ended up with Portland as the No. 3 pick. While Wembanyama has lived up to the hype, Henderson has become part of the Blazers’ bench.
Victor Wembanyama is 5-0 against Scoot Henderson
Victor Wembanyama is unbeaten in five games against Scoot Henderson. During that stretch, the 7-foot-4 center averaged 24.6 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.8 blocks, 4.4 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Henderson posted 11.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg and 2.6 apg during the same timeline.
Wembanyama and Henderson gave basketball fans a treat in their first meeting on Dec. 28, 2023. Wemby dropped 30 points, seven blocks, six assists and six rebounds in San Antonio’s 118-105 win. Henderson tallied 25 points, four assists and three rebounds.
In the next four meetings, the supposed Wemby-Henderson rivalry has been completely one-sided in the Frenchman’s favor. In two of those games, the former G-League Ignite star failed to reach double-digit scoring, while the star center has been dominant.
The Blazers will be hoping Henderson can contribute more in the playoffs when they face Victor Wembanyama’s Spurs, the favorites to end the OKC Thunder’s reign in the NBA.
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