Portland Trail Blazers guard Scoot Henderson entered Friday night’s home opener against the Orlando Magic determined to make amends for his clunker of a debut Wednesday night at the LA Clippers.

But before Henderson, 19, can ever take flight in the NBA, he must avoid being grounded by foul trouble. Three of his five personal fouls came in the first quarter against the Magic.

Henderson, who started the game off well, credited Rip City fans for getting him pumped up. But the foul trouble derailed his momentum.

“That kind of messed up my rhythm a little bit,” Henderson said.

It’s one of several issues Henderson must clean up before he can truly get rolling. During the 123-111 loss at the Clippers, Henderson picked up just two fouls. But the problem was present during the preseason when he averaged 4.5 personal fouls in 28.3 minutes of action.

The rookie began Friday’s game with the aggressiveness he vowed to show after scoring just two points through three quarters at the Clippers. He scored nine in the fourth when the game was out of reach to finish with 11.

Henderson scored seven points in the first quarter against the Magic but also picked up three fouls. He didn’t play at all in the second quarter, then went 0 of 4 from the field in the third quarter while picking up another foul. The fifth came early in the fourth quarter, but coach Chauncey Billups did not remove Henderson from the game. He avoided fouling out but went 0 of 3 from the field to finish 3 of 11 with seven points, just two assists and five turnovers. Aside from the fouls, Billups said Henderson showed progress.

“I thought his intent was good,” Billups said. “It was much better, much better today. He did attack. He just wasn’t able to complete it. And obviously, anybody that’s played basketball knows it’s tough to play basketball when you’re in foul trouble.”

Billups wants Henderson to keep the game simple. Trust his jump shot when open. Learn when to attack. Work through mistakes. Doing all of the above, Billups said, will help Henderson ultimately be able to read plays quicker and then become more efficient.

“He’s just not there yet,” Billups said.

Henderson said the fouling issue is on him. He didn’t blame officiating, even though some of the fouls might have been ticky-tack.

“I’m learning the game as an NBA and as a pro player, and the officials are also learning me, too,” Henderson said.

Attacking aggressively on offense led to Henderson picking up his fifth foul early in the fourth quarter when he crashed into Magic center Moritz Wagner after making a pass in the lane. On the other end, Henderson proved unable to use his physicality to draw shooting fouls. He had zero against the Magic after shooting just one free throw against the Clippers.

“It’s going to be trial and error,” Henderson said.