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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

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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 starting an all Moda Center back-to-back with a rare victory versus the Miami Heat in Portland

• Portland finishing up a stretch of playing eight of 10 games at home with a tough start and a tough finish in a loss to the Toronto Raptors Friday night

• Heading out for a three-game Eastern Conference road trip with stops in Boston, Washington, DC and New York City

• The snow is falling as the east coast braces for a winter storm and how that might impact the Trail Blazers

• A conversation with Trail Blazers guard/forward Sidy Cissoko after practice at Boston University on Sunday about how the team is playing, particularly since the start of 2026, gaining experience through the course of the season, wanting to play 110 percent, the job of a two-way player, where he’s improved the most this season, trying to be more like Toumani Camara, starting as a two-way, team chemistry, having an international locker room, playing with an attitude, coming up on the 50-game limit as a two-way player, wanting to get the Trail Blazers back to the playoffs and the proper pronunciation of “Sidy Cissoko.”

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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 blowing out LeBron James and the Lakers at Moda Center on Saturday to begin a weekend back-to-back

• Following up the win versus the Lakers on Saturday with another versus the Kings in Sacramento on Sunday

• The Trail Blazers have won the 2025-26 season series versus three of the four California teams

• Deni Avdija makes a well-timed return with Jrue Holiday, Jerami Grant and Robert Williams III all sitting out the second night of a back-to-back

• Deni Avdija finishing fifth in fan voting but ending up seventh in the total vote for the 2026 NBA All-Star Game Western Conference starters

• Deni Avdija passing Victor Wembenyama and Anthony Edwards in the final fan voter tally and getting more votes in the last week than a lot of players got over the entire voting period

•Fingers crossed that Deni Avdija is announced as an All-Star reserve, which is decided by coaches vote

• With yet another new format this year, there are still a lot of unanswered questions about how the teams will be put together at the 2026 NBA All-Star Game

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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 just not having the bodies to compete with the Warriors Tuesday night in San Francisco

• Jrue Holiday's return after missing two months seems to be going well

• Portland gets a huge boost from their bench in Thursday's win versus the Hawks

• One of the few positives about having so many injured players

• Jerami Grant returns to the lineup after missing a month with Achilles soreness

• Deni Avdija seems to be improving after missing the last two games with a back injury

• Yang Hansen is assigned to the Rip City Remix for the second time this week

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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 following up a win versus the Rockets on Wednesday at Moda Center with another on Friday in the rematch, also at Moda Center

• Toumani Camara responds to losing a tooth by posting a career-high in scoring

• Clutch free throws, a perfect night shooting from Sidy Cissoko and Duop Reath always staying ready helps Portland secure the second-straight win versus Houston

• Deni Avdija's comments after the victory regarding how the way he plays and how that effects the way he's officiated

• Portland having a five-game winning streak and a four-game homestand ended with a loss to the New York Knicks Sunday afternoon

• The Trail Blazers running out of rallies versus the Knicks

• Deni Avdija leaving Sunday's game in the fourth quarter with an apparent back injury

• Jrue Holiday returning to the lineup in Sunday's game after missing the last two months with a calf strain

• How Jrue feels the day AFTER the game being more important than how he felt DURING the game

• Jrue Holiday being on a minutes restriction and how that would be impacted by whether or not Deni Avdija misses any time due to injury

• Portland facing the Warriors in San Francisco on Tuesday before returning to Moda Center to host the Hawks and Lakers

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

• The Trail Blazers getting their fourth-straight victory with a gutsy win versus the Rockets Wednesday night at Moda Center

• Deni Avdija posting season-high in scoring versus the Rockets

• Toumani Camara proves his toughness once again

• A lowkey encouraging performance from Yang Hansen

• Thoughts on the rematch versus the Rockets on Friday

• The upcoming schedule and whether the Blazers can get back to .500 by the end of the month

• Deni Avdija remains seventh in All-Star fan voting with one week to go

• Donovan Clingan (and maybe Caleb Love?) should be included in... whatever the Rising Stars Challenge looks like this year

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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 losing the first three games of a five-game homestand

• Portland defeating the Celtics in the fourth game of the five-game homestand to get their first win versus Boston in the last three seasons

• The Trail Blazers doing a good job of controlling what they can control in the second half versus the Celtics

• Portland finishing out their holiday homestand with a harrowing victory versus the Dallas Mavericks Monday night

• Deni Avdija's near triple-double 

• When Caleb Love plays well, the Trail Blazers' chances of winning seem to improve considerably

• Deni Avdija coming in seventh in Western Conference All-Star fan voting in the first round of returns released Monday