Trail Blazers’ Anfernee Simons goes scoreless in loss to Clippers

For the second consecutive game, Portland Trail Blazers guard Scoot Henderson shot well early, while fellow guard Anfernee Simons struggled to put the ball into the basket.

And for the second consecutive game, the Blazers were blown out, this time 118-89 to the LA Clippers at the Moda Center.

Simons, 0 of 9 from the field in 30 minutes, went scoreless for the first time since Dec. 2, 2021, when he played just under 11 minutes in a loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

On Tuesday night, Simons went scoreless on five shots in the first half during a 132-114 loss to the Brooklyn Nets before finishing with 11 points.

Blazers coach Chauncey Billups was at a loss to explain Simons’ off night beyond the obvious.

”It just looked like a rough night,” Billups said. “They do have a really good defense. They key on him a lot. I didn’t think they were overly aggressive on him tonight. Their defense, they make you take a lot of tough shots. And he could never really get away from them … It was just a rough night at the offense, which all players have them.”

Simons departed the lockerroom almost immediately after the game.

Henderson, who scored a career-high 39 points against the Nets, had 14 points in the first half against the Clippers but added just two in the second half. He finished with 16 on 6-of-14 shooting with six assists.

That’s about the only interesting tidbits from this game that began poorly for the Blazers and became increasingly worse as the night went on.

The Clippers shot 66.7% in the first quarter to build a 32-22 lead over the Blazers, who shot 37%. That lead grew to 21 points in the second quarter. But the Clippers’ scoring slowed enough for the Blazers to get to within 52-38 at halftime.

The Clippers got hot again in the third quarter, going up by as much as 32 while shooting 61.9% from the field.

The Blazers closed the third quarter well enough to trail 86-66 entering the final quarter, where they fell behind by 34 and that was pretty much that.

James Harden #1 of the LA Clippers shoots past Kris Murray #24 of the Portland Trail Blazers during the first half at Moda Center on January 16, 2025 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)Getty Images

James Harden led the Clippers with 19 points, 12 in the first quarter. Former Blazers guard/forward Norman Powell scored 23 points. Former Portland forward Derrick Jones Jr. added 13.

The Clippers shot 56.6 from the field and 45.5% from beyond the arc.

The Blazers clicked on just 37.4% of their field goal attempts and shot 26.5% from three-point range, ninth worst performance this season.

Dalano Banton led the Blazers with 23 points, 21 coming in the second half. Shaedon Sharpe scored 12 points and Deandre Ayton had 14 points and seven rebounds.

WHAT IT MEANS

The Blazers (13-27) lost their fourth consecutive game. The Clippers (23-17) claimed the season series 2-1.

CLINGAN AND AVDIJA OUT

Rookie center Donovan Clingan (right ankle sprain) will be re-evaluated in a week. Deni Avdija (right ankle sprain) missed his second game. Robert Williams III returned and scored four points with seven rebounds in 17 minutes.

NEXT UP

The Blazers play back-to-back games this weekend. At 7 p.m. on Saturday, they host the Houston Rockets (27-12). At 6 p.m., Sunday, the Blazers host the Chicago Bulls (18-23).

— Aaron Fentress | [email protected] | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook)

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