Portland Trail Blazers Guard Ashton Hagans plays with the hunger of a young player trying to carve out a place in the NBA. The 24-year-old goalkeeper enters the opponent’s gates on defense, eagerly hits the deck to recover loose balls and flexes powerfully after difficult finishes.
All that toughness led Hagans to the best game of his young career with the Blazers in Saturday night’s 107-100 overtime win over the Memphis Grizzlies. Hagans received extended minutes due to the absences of Scoot Henderson and Malcom Brogdon. He turned 33 minutes of play into 13 points on 4-9 shooting, eight assists, five rebounds, two steals and a block, helping overcome his six turnovers by filling up the stat sheet in other areas . Normally a reluctant shooter, Hagans also went 2-4 from 3-point range and 3-3 from the foul line.
In the post-match locker roomHagans said his mindset was simple in the comeback win over the Grizzlies: provide energy.
Just that opportunity where my name was called, my number was called, and I went in there and did everything I could to help my team bring energy, and that’s what s ‘happened. The guys that were in the second unit, third unit, no matter what, they stayed ready, came in, fought and brought energy.
Heading into the fourth quarter trailing by 17 points, Hagans said he and his teammates focused on communication and staying together to reduce the deficit.
Stay together, just talk to each other. Communication is the most important thing in this game of basketball, and that’s exactly what the coaches instilled in us. “Just talk, be there for each other, fight and just try to bring the game back.” and we did it.
Hagans’ performance earned him a postgame interview, but it also drew praise from Blazers coach Chauncey Billups during his postgame press conference. Billups gave a glowing insight into the Hagans’ mentality on the field.
Ashton, I was so proud of him. He’s just a warrior, he really is. He puts it on the line every night, every play possible.
When Blazers reporter Brooke Olzendam spoke to Hagans about the coach’s kind words, the young guard responded by explaining how grateful he was for the trust and opportunity.
A coach like that that’s willing to trust you late in a game like that, down 18 going into the fourth, hey, that’s big. I just thank this organization and I thank Coach for giving me this opportunity, but now it’s just time to keep going and keep going and move on. We had a big one in Minnesota, and we’re just trying to get that win, too.
Hagans and the Blazers have an off day on Sunday. Next, the team will have a much tougher match against the Minnesota Timberwolves on the road Monday evening, with an alert expected shortly after 5 p.m. PST.
