The Portland Trail Blazers ended a tough five-game road trip, falling to the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday, losing 121-114. Portland held on and trailed by just five points in the final minutes, but were ultimately overwhelmed by hot shooting from Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam.

Indiana is just the second Eastern Conference opponent the Blazers have faced so far this season (the first was Atlanta on 11/17), and Portland is now 1-1 in those games.

The Big Story: The Return of Deandre Ayton and Scoot Henderson. With reinforcements desperately needed, Portland welcomed back both Ayton, who has been sidelined the last seven games with a hand contusion, and Henderson, who had missed the last two games with a back strain. Both were effective.

Ayton raised a flag near the rim and did most of his damage as a lob receiver and off the offensive boards, posting 16 points, 12 boards and 3 blocks in 34 minutes.

Scoot showed no signs of the back pain that had kept him out of the previous two competitions. When he came off the bench, he provided a much-needed spark, scoring 17 points and 9 assists in 35 minutes. But perhaps most remarkable: He did it intentionally and it worked mostly under control and only commits a single turnover.

Blazer of the Game: Anfernee Simons. Simons was hot all night but started in the third quarter where he scored 16 points, mostly from long range. But he remained scoreless until the final seconds of the fourth quarter, including a potential three-pointer that could have cut the deficit to 2 in the final minute.

Status of the night: Oh, Canada. In the battle between the 2022 Canadian lottery guards, it was Benedict Mathurin who prevailed against Shaedon Sharpe this evening, outscoring his fellow Canadian 24:17.

What we will remember: Deni Avdija came The Close to top 10 material. Deni was inches away from perhaps landing the dunk of his career late in the third quarter, but instead it bounced off the inside of the rim.

Box score

What’s next: Back home for Black Friday. The Blazers return to PDX and have Thanksgiving Day off before hosting the Sacramento Kings on Friday night at 7 p.m