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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 holding practices on Tuesday and Wednesday after the All-Star break

• Quick thoughts on All-Star Weekend and whether it's really any better or worse than it's ever been

• Toumani Camara and Bryce McGowens at the Rising Stars Challenge at All-Star Weekend (and why didn't they introduce Scoot Henderson?)

• Where the Trail Blazers are at with a third of the season yet to play

• Hosting the Lakers on Thursday and the Hornets on Saturday before heading out for a two-week trip

• Injury updates

• The team upgrading the big screen and adding additional stat signage at Moda Center in time for the 2025-26 season

• A conversation with third-year guard Shaedon Sharpe about how he spent his all-star break, thought on his third season, where he's made the most progress and where he's got the most room for growth, the win streak, relationship between Canadian players, what he wants out of his career and coming off the bench

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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 heading into the All-Star Break off three road losses

• The Trail Blazers making the Nuggets work in the second game between the two teams in Denver

• Deandre Ayton out for at least the next month and how that impacts the center rotation

• Donovan Clingan putting up a career high in rebounds on Wednesday after posting a career high in scoring on Monday

• Clingan moving into the starting lineup and how playing 31 minutes might be more impressive than grabbing 20 rebounds

• Where the Trail Blazers are at in the standing, offensive rating, defensive rating and net rating going into the All-Star Break

• Toumani Camara facing off against Bryce McGowens in the 2025 Castrol Rising Stars Challenge at All-Star Friday night in San Francisco

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

• Portland's seven-game homestand coming to an end

• Losing to the Timberwolves in Minnesota to end a six-game winning streak

• Getting blown out by the Nuggets in Denver

• Losing both Deandre Ayton and Scoot Henderson to injury 

• Whether Scoot's injury might keep him out of the Rookie/Sophomore Challenge at All-Star Weekend

• Donovan Clingan doing something no one in Portland has done since Arvydas Sabonis

• Portland signing Sidy Cissoko and his debut with the Rip City Remix

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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 wrapping up a seven-game homestand with a 108-102 victory versus the Kings Thursday night at Moda Center 

• Portland remaining the hottest team in the NBA after winning six in a row and 10 of their last 11 and whether they can keep it going with three road games before the All-Star break

• The decision to stand pat at the 2025 NBA trade deadline and the notion of using the deadline to start discussions that become trades at a later date

• Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin's comments to the media after the decision to make no moves at the trade deadline

• Portland winning the last 10 games versus the spread and officially hitting the over on their preseason win projection... before the All-Star break

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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 being the hottest team in the NBA in the last 10 games

• Defeating the Suns in consecutive games -- one blowout and one overtime thriller-- at Moda Center thanks in larger part to the effort of Deandre Ayton

• Blowing out the Pacers Tuesday night in the second game of a back-to-back for both teams

• Portland extending their winning streak to five games and winning nine of their last 10 and some interested stats compiled during that stretch

• Watching "the Big Game" at Spirit Mountain Casino

• Scoot Henderson and Toumani Camara being "drafted" to play for Team Mitch Richmond at the 2025 Rising Stars Challenge, the rest of the roster and their prospects of advancing to face the actual NBA All-Stars Sunday night

• Some general thoughts less than 24 hours before the 2025 trade deadline expires

• Portland covering in 10-straight games and being just one win away from hitting the over on their season win projection

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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 defeating Damian Lillard and the Bucks on Tuesday to sweep the Eastern Conference squad

• Blowing out the Magic for the second time in a week to secure another sweep and finish the month of January with a .500 record

• Portland getting a significant uptick in overall wins, road wins and offensive and defensive rating in the month of January

• Scoot Henderson and Bryve McGowens being invited to participate in the Rising Stars Challenge at All-Star Weekend

• The NBA rectifying a mistake by naming Toumani Camara as an injury replacement for the Rising Stars Challenge

• The Trail Blazers covering the spread in seven-straight games and being just four wins away from hitting the over on their win projection this season with more than 40 percent of the season left to go

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On this edition of The Brief Case, Trail Blazers beat reporter/Insider Casey Holdahl discusses...

• The Trail Blazers returning from a 3-0 road trip versus the Heat, Magic and Hornets

• Having a season-best, four-game winning streak ended Sunday afternoon versus the Oklahoma City Thunder at Moda Center

• Starting a seven-game homestand after a three-game trip

• The play of Deni Avdija, Toumani Camara, Robert Williams III and Scoot Henderson on the road trip

• Rookie center Donovan Clingan returning to the lineup after missing two weeks with an ankle injury

• The Trail Blazers hosting Damian Lillard and the Bucks Tuesday night for the second time since the trade that sent the guard to Milwaukee

• Portland covering the spread in five-straight games and moving even farther ahead of schedule with regard to their season win projection

• All quiet on the trade front with the deadline a little over a week away

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On this edition of The Brief Case, presented by Spirit Mountain Casino, recorded from the team hotel in Miami, Trail Blazers beat reporter/Insider Casey Holdahl discusses...

• Finishing up a disappointing homestand with a win versus the Chicago Bulls on Sunday

• Chauncey Billups' decision to bring Shaedon Sharpe off the bench and how it's worked thus far

• Starting a three-game road trip with a win versus the Heat in Miami

• Deandre Ayton turning in one of his best games as a Trail Blazer

• Scoot Henderson stepping up his play in the month of January

• Rayan Rupert being assigned to the Rip City Remix

• Portland's recent record versus the spread and where they're at in terms of hitting the over on their season win projection

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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 losing to the Clippers 118-89 to the LA Clippers Thursday night at Moda Center

• Following up a decent road trip with a bad homestand

• The value of Deni Avdija, who has missed the last two games with a sprained ankle

• A conversation with second-year forward Kris Murray about earning more minutes, areas in which he's improved and where they still has room to grow, trying to remain consistent, who he looks to for advice and what he'd like to see from himself and the team in the second half of 2024-25

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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 starting a five-gamer homestand with losses to the Heat and Nets

• Scoot Henderson posting a career-high in scoring versus the Nets and some of the other interesting statistial noters from his performance

• Toumani Camara also having a career night scoring versus the Nets, albeit in a loss

• Donovan Clingan missing at least the next week with a "mild ankle sprain"

• The injury report for Thursday's game versus the Clippers at Moda Center

• Entering a stretch in which the Trail Blazers will play six games in nine nights in between two cross country flights

• The Trail Blazers' recent record versus the spread and how far along they are in terms of hitting the over on their season win projection