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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 beating the Kings in overtime Thursday night at Moda Center

• You've got to learn how to win "ugly" games in the NBA

• Facing the Kings again Saturday night, this time in Sacramento

• The 1999-2000 Trail Blazers roster returning to Moda Center for a reunion at Monday's game versus the Pistons

• Celebrating that team that came a quarter short from a trip to the NBA Finals has been a long time coming

• The team putting a renewed emphasis on welcoming back former players and coaches

• All-Star voting is open and you should stuff the ballot box for Deni Avdija, who is putting up numbers this season that only Luka, Jokic and Giannis are hitting

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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 Pelicans in New Orleans Thursday night in a "NBA Cup Consolation Bracket" game

• The Trail Blazers having just 10 players -- eight on NBA contracts and three on two-way contracts -- in uniform on Thursday, with none of those players being taller than 6-9

• Hosting the Warriors on Sunday -- it's Damian Lillard collectable glass night! -- and then having three days off before a home-and-road series versus the Kings

• There's no point in trying to predict when players will return from injury, though hopefully that will be the case with so many off days coming up

• Deni Avdija being named to ESPN's "Top 25 Players Under The Age of 25" list

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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 going down, coming back, but then losing down the stretch to the Pistons in Detroit on Friday night

• Portland finishing up a four-game trip with a 119-96 loss to the Grizzlies in Memphis

• The Trail Blazers having time to rest and recuperate with only two games over the next 10 days

• Yang Hansen being assigned to the Remix on Wednesday night and then posting 20 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals in a 135-128 overtime loss to the San Diego Clippers Thursday night at Chiles Center

• Hansen being recalled by the Trail Blazers and starting versus the Grizzlies in Memphis with both Donovan Clingan and Robert Williams III out

• The tricky balance of knowing when to assign Hansen to the Remix and when they'll need him to play for the Trail Blazers

• The Remix hosting two games this week versus the Salt Lake City Stars, heading to LA to play one game versus the South Bay Lakers and then returning to Portland to host two games versus the Stockton Kings

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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 off yet another four-game road trip with a loss to the Raptors in Toronto

• Portland dooming their chances yet again due to poor free throw shooting

• The Trail Blazers bouncing back to defeat the Cavaliers in Cleveland on the second night of a back-to-back

• Portland winning in Cleveland in large part thanks to free throw shooting

• Deni Avdija gets to the line and continues his run as one of the NBA's best players this season

• Shaedon Sharpe becomes the youngest player in franchise history to put up 3,000 points

• Yang Hansen is assigned to the Remix, who started their home schedule on Tuesday and play again on Thursday at Chiles Center on the campus of University of Portland

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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 having their NBA Cup dreams dashed with a loss to the San Antonio Spurs in West Group C play on Thanksgiving eve

• You can miss three-pointers or miss free throws, but if you're the 2025-26 Trail Blazers, you can't miss both

• Portland using some down time during the holiday weekend to get in their first real practices since the start of the regular season

• The Trail Blazers can't hold on in the fourth quarter versus the Oklahoma City Thunder, though their improved play is cause for optimism

• Deni Avdija playing out of position at point guard on offense and center on defense

• Deni gets his second triple-double of the season, making him one of the few players in do so this season

• Avdija doing something that only Clyde Drexler and Damian Lillard have done in Trail Blazers' franchise history

• International or domestic, at this point, Deni Avdija has to be a Western Conference All-Star

• A conversation with Trail Blazers center Robert Williams III regarding his season so far, how Portland's new style of play fits his style of play, enjoying the grind of rehab, offering council to teammates dealing with injuries, slowing down (but in a good way) and the rarity of playing for a head coach who was also a 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 returning from a five-game trip to play an all Moda Center back-to-back

• Losing to the Suns on Tuesday in the first game back from a long trip

• Rallying to take the lead only to lose to the Bulls on yet another buzzer-beating three in the second night of a back-to-back

• Portland down to 10 players, including three two-way players, Wednesday night

• Three-point defense and free throw shooting making it hard shorthanded

• Deni Avdija posts his third triple-double, all of which have come during his time with the Trail Blazers

• Jerami Grant shaking off an illness to post 33 points versus the Bulls

• Donovan Clingan posting a career high in rebounds and Portland's ridiculous rebounding numbers versus Chicago

• Needing a win on the upcoming three-game road trip

• The play of rookie center Yang Hansen since his return from an assignment with the Rip City Remix

• Hansen going through what all rookie centers go through

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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 a five-game trip with a close loss to the Heat in Miami on Saturday

• Going scoreless at the worst possible time

• Both Jrue Holiday and Deni Avdija come close to triple-doubles in Miami

• Trail Blazers stick around in Orlando versus the Magic but end up getting beaten at the buzzer by a Desmond Bane three

• Portland overcoming a tough night on the boards and a lack of flow on offense for the first three quarters

• The Blazers once again staying resilient long enough for the game to turn in their favor

• Did Tiago Splitter remember the alley-oop play that gave Portland the lead from when the Blazers ran it for a win versus Tiago when he was a rookie versus the Spurs?

• The irony of the Magic shooting poorly from three all game only to finish with a buzzer-beating three and the Trail Blazers turning the ball over just three times in the first three quarters only to be undone by a late-game turnover

• Shaedon Sharpe having his best game of the season while looking like a go-to option in the fourth quarter

• Finishing the trip with the Pelicans in New Orleans on Wednesday, the Rockets in Houston (in an NBA Cup Group C game) Friday in Houston and Sunday versus the Mavericks in Dallas (and on both KATU and KUNP)

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

• The disappointing loss to a shorthanded Los Angeles Lakers team on Monday

• Which team is the Trail Blazers: the team that beat the Nuggets or lost to the Lakers?

• Bouncing back from being down 21 points in the first quarter to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, the reigning NBA champs and a team that entered Wednesday's game unbeated

• The play of Deni Avdija, Jrue Holiday, Jerami Grant and Duop Reath in the win versus OKC

• Duop staying ready and delivering when called upon

• The gratification of breaking a 16-game losing streak and besting at team that thought they could rest rotation players and still win

• Matisse Thybulle and Blake Wesley each have surgery and reaching the five-week mark of Scoot Henderson's initial four to eight week rehabilitation

• A conversation with Rip City Remix head coach Jonah Herscu as they begin their season on Friday in Santa Cruz

• Yang Hansen being assigned to the Remix for practices and why that might be