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On this edition of The Brief Case, presented by Spirit Mountain Casino, Trail Blazers reporter/Insider Casey Holdahl discusses...

• The Trail Blazers holding on to beat the Pacers in Indianapolis on Wednesday

• Donovan Clingan gets a new career high in scoring and Deni Avdija returns to form

• Portland's bad habit of letting teams back into games

• The Trail Blazers getting one of their better wins of 2026 Friday night versus the Timberwolves in Minneapolis

• Jerami Grant saves the day in the final minutes of the fourth quarter

• Jrue Holiday just keeps turning in great yet quiet performances

• The Trail Blazers are now in eighth in the Western Conference standings with 11 games to play

• The difference between getting the seven/eight matchup versus the nine/ten matchup in the play-in tournament

• Donovan Clingan's elite performance since the All-Star break

• How Clingan leading the league in offensive rebound is integral to the Trail Blazers offense

• Clingan is arguably the best player from his draft class and is already one of the NBA's best centers

• Trail Blazers wrapping up a five-game trip Sunday afternoon in Denver (it's a 2 p.m. tipoff in Portland) before playing the second game of a back-to-back versus the Nets Monday night at Moda Center

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On this edition of The Brief Case, presented by Spirit Mountain Casino, Trail Blazers reporter/Insider Casey Holdahl discusses...

• The Trail Blazers getting a five-game road trip off to a disappoint start with a loss to the 76ers in Philadelphia

• Turnovers are an issue yet again

• If neither team is playing well, the home team is usually going to win

• Taking a bus from Philadelphia to Manhattan

• Portland bouncing back with a blowout victory versus the Nets in Brooklyn

• Blazers lead by as many as 31 (good), give up a 16-0 run (bad) but do enough to get the comfortable win (good)

• Jrue Holiday the cooler

• Deni Avdija has fans everywhere, but it was on a different level Monday night in Brooklyn

• Kris Murray backs up Donovan Clingan at center

• Toumani Camara shakes off a tough game in Philly to play one of his best this season in Brooklyn

• The Trail Blazers remain a half game behind the Warriors in the race to host a play-in game

• The trip moves on to Indianapolis on Wednesday, Minneapolis on Friday and wraps up in Denver on Sunday

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On this edition of The Brief Case, presented by Spirit Mountain Casino, Trail Blazers reporter/Insider Casey Holdahl discusses...

• The Trail Blazers defeating the Grizzlies in Memphis Wednesday night behind the play of Jrue, Jerami and Rob

• Jrue, Rob and Jerami all doing more as we enter the last month of the regular season

• Portland giving themselves a chance in the first three quarters before faltering in the fourth in Friday's loss to the Rockets

• Finishing a five-game trip with a 2-3 record

• Returning to Moda Center for three games before heading out for another five-game trip

• After a rough road trip, Scoot Henderson turned in his best game of the season and one of the best games of his career to lead the Trail Blazers past the Pacers Sunday night

• Deni Avdija returns in Sunday's win after missing six games with a back injury

• Another late-game Blake Wesley to Yang Hansen connection

• Hosting the Hornets and Jazz before a five game trip with stops in Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Indianapolis, Minneapolis and Denver

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On this edition of The Brief Case, presented by Spirit Mountain Casino, Trail Blazers beat reporter/Insider discusses...

• The Trail Blazers starting a five-game trip off with a victory versus the Chicago Bulls at United Center

• Donovan Clingan, Kris Murray and Sidy Cissoko have all been sick

• Robert Williams III comes up big versus the Bulls

• Trail Blazers losing to the Hornets in Charlotte in a game that started at 10 am Portland time

• The Blazers missing a lot of threes in a row versus the Hornets (but why they also have to keep shooting them)

• Portland following up the loss in Charlotte on Saturday by losing to the Hawks in Atlanta on Sunday

• You can't give up 44 points in the first quarter and expect to give yourself a chance of getting a win

• Tiago Splitter says Deni Avdija is getting close to returning to the lineup

• Having two days off before facing the Grizzlies on Memphis on Wednesday

• Finishing up a five-game trip on Friday versus the Rockets in Houston

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On this edition of The Brief Case, presented by Spirit Mountain Casino, Trail Blazers beat reporter/Insider Casey Holdahl discusses...

• The Trail Blazers getting blown out by the Denver Nuggets in their first game back from the All-Star break

• Blowouts happen, 53-point losses should not

• Portland bouncing back by holding the Phoenix Suns to just 77 points in a win Sunday night

• If the Trail Blazers are going to need to start winning consistently to move up in the play-in race

• Deni Avdija leaves the game once again with a lower back injury

• Matisse Thybulle, Kris Murray and Blake Wesley return

• Sidy Cissoko has his two-way contract converted to a full NBA contract

• Unfortunately to make room for Sidy the Trail Blazers had to waive Rayan Rupert

• With most of the team healthy, Yang Hansen, Caleb Love and Javonte Cooke head to the Rip City Remix

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On this edition of The Brief Case, presented by Spirit Mountain Casino, Trail Blazers reporter/Insider Casey Holdahl, on location in Los Angeles for the 2026 NBA All-Star Weekend, discusses...

• The Portland Trail Blazers having a great All-Star Weekend thus far

• Donovan Clingan and Yang Hansen performing well against each other in the Castrol Rising Stars on All-Star Friday night at Intuit Dome

• What spending time at All-Star Weekend can do for young players

• Damian Lillard, despite not having played this season, wins his third Three-Point Contest at the 2026 NBA All-Star Saturday night

• Why Damian Lillard decided to compete in the Three-Point Contest

• Dame becomes one of three players to win the even three times, which almost guarantees he'll try for a fourth

• Dame winning the Three-Point Contest is just another reason to be enthusiastic about the Trail Blazers going forward

• Deni Avdija prepares to play in his first NBA All-Star Game Sunday night

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On this edition of The Brief Case, presented by Spirit Mountain Casino, Trail Blazers reporter/Insider Casey Holdahl discusses...

• The Trail Blazers defeating the Grizzlies 135-155 Friday night at Moda Center in Scoot Henderson's first game of the season

• It might have taken a long time for Scoot Henderson to make his 2025-26 season debut, but it didn't take him much time to have an impact once he did

• Shaedon Sharpe is sidelined with a calf injury

• Trail Blazers sweep a back-to-back with the Grizzlies by winning the second matchup on Saturday, also at Moda Center

• Portland rallies in the fourth in the kind of game they'll need to win if they're to make a run after the All-Star break

• The team will have to make a decision soon about two-way players Caleb Love and Sidy Cissoko

• Bad to the Bone at Spirit Mountain

• Portland goes ham in the third quarter to defeat the Philadelphia 76ers Monday night at Moda Center to finish off a five-game homestand with three-straight wins

• Deni Avdija returns to the lineup versus the Sixers and looks like his old self

• Monday's win being the first game this season where Deni Avdija, Jrue Holiday, Robert Williams III and Scoot Henderson all played

• Toumani Camara might be the biggest beneficiary of injured players returning after posting career highs in scoring and three-pointers made in the win versus the 76ers

• The Blazers are as healthy as they've been this season, they're rested and have something to play for. Can they go on a run after the All-Star break?

• Damian Lillard signs on to compete in the 2026 Three-Point Contest Saturday (afternoon) at All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles

• Dame joins Deni Avdija, Donovan Clingan and Yang Hansen at All-Star Weekend

• All-Star Saturday and Sunday starting in the afternoon rather than the evening due to the Winter Olympics

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On this edition of The Brief Case, presented by Spirit Mountain Casino, Trail Blazers reporter/Insider Casey Holdahl discusses...

• Deni Avdija being named to the 2026 NBA All-Star Game for the first time in his career

• Needing to do a little bit extra in order to make your first All-Star roster

• The Trail Blazers having at least three players at the 2026 NBA All-Star Weekend between Avdija, Donovan Clingan and Yang Hansen

• The Trail Blazers trading for 6-8 guard/forward Vit Krejci from the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Duop Reath and two second-round picks

• Krejci providing three-point shooting and playmaking, two things the Trail Blazers desperately need

• Bidding a fond farewell to Duop Reath, one of the best people you'll find in the NBA or otherwise

• Portland's losing streak extending to five games with a loss to the Cavaliers at Moda Center on Sunday

• Blake Wesley returning to the lineup Sunday after missing the last few months with a broken foot

• Scoot Henderson also getting close to making his debut after missing the first part of the season with a hamstring injury