There were no signs of rust in front of it Trail Blazers guard Shaedon Sharpe when he made his season debut Thursday night in San Antonio, writes Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian. Sharpe has been sidelined since early October after suffering a labral tear in his left shoulder during training camp. He entered the game late in the first quarter and contributed 13 points on 6-for-9 shooting.

‘I was afraid he would be a bit restless’ coach Chauncey Billups said. “And to do some things just because he just came back, that would be out of character for him. But he never did that. He looked great. I thought his shot selection was good for the most part. Defensively, I thought he was healthy.”

Fentress notes that the Blazers are counting on Sharpe to spark an offense that currently ranks 25th in the league at 107.8 points per game. He has the ability to create his own shot and is equally dangerous from beyond the arc or driving to the basket.

Sharpe admitted he felt some nervousness about his first game of the season, but added it didn’t last long.

‘Two up and down and I was straight’ he said.

There’s more from the Northwest Division:

• The Jazz are emphasizing player development this season, but coach Will Hardy leaned heavily on its veterans in Thursday’s loss in Milwaukee, according to Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune. Kyle Filipowski, Isaiah Collier And Brice Sensabaugh all fell out of the rotation as Utah slid to 1-7. “I have the long term in mind for all these guys. The reality is we can’t play every young guy every night. That’s not how this is going to work. This is the NBA, and there has to be a certain level of minutes earned.” Hardy said. “I don’t think the idea of ​​’just getting minutes to get better’ is true. Just playing for the sake of playing doesn’t just make them better. That’s why we have practices. That’s why we have the G League. There are so many ways we’re going to use all of our resources to help all these guys get better.
• The Timber wolves took over Thursday’s game in Chicago, but not before allowing 65 first-half points to a Bulls team that was lacking Zach LaVine And Lonzo ball. Anthony Edwards told reporters, including The Athletic’s Darnell Mayberry, that the lack of early focus on defense is becoming a problem. “We are not proud of not stopping anyone at the beginning of the match,” Edwards said. “That is disturbing. That’s scary. We have to figure that part out. We’re terrible until we get down. When we get down there, everyone wants to play defense. But if we play from the start, we will be the best team.”
• The 37-year-old guard had 14 points and 11 assists on Thursday Mike Conley became the oldest player in Timber wolves history to post a double-double (Twitter video link from Dane Moore).