Things were looking up for the Portland Trail Blazers when they hit the road for a three-game Eastern Conference road trip last week.
Yet, the Blazers are heading home licking their wounds, and forward and breakout star Deni Avdija opened up about his and the team’s struggles after they dropped their fourth straight game, 127-97, to the New York Knicks on Friday night.
Avdija, who ranks 13th in the NBA in points per game (25.8) failed to top 20 points for the second straight game. He made just 4 of 14 field goals, scoring only 11 points, and went more than 30 minutes of game action between points. He had more turnovers than assists for the second straight game as well.
Deni Avdija Is Ailing
Avdija has been managing a lower-back injury, which has caused him to be inactive for five of Portland’s past nine games. But after missing two straight games, a home loss to the Toronto Raptors and the first road defeat in Boston, Avdija returned with underwhelming results in Washington and New York.
“Just to be honest, I’m just dealing with some stuff,” Avdija said. “I have the competitive nature and [am] just trying to be there for my teammates and compete and do whatever I can, but it’s something I’ve got to figure out with myself, my teammates, my coaches.
“It’s nothing to worry about, but it’s definitely something I’m facing right now.”
Avdija was asked directly about his back and further admitted he was struggling.
“I can’t really say anything specific about my injury or what’s going on,” Avdija said. “I’ll leave it to the medical staff. I’m doing a good job of recovering and coming back, but I definitely, definitely don’t feel fluid right now.”
Advija also briefly went to the locker room right before halftime in New York and told reporters his hand went numb. But he did come back out and started the third quarter.
“It went completely numb,” Avdija said. “I went to the locker room, and they checked on it and did a really good job, and I was ready to go for the second half.”
The Trail Blazers Are Going Through A Challenging Stretch
Members of the Blazers beat were debating whether Avdija should be shut down until the All-Star break — Portland has seven games left until the All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles. The Israeli-born star finished fifth in the NBA in fan voting for the All-Star Game but has not secured a spot for the star-studded weekend in Inglewood.
Still, Avdija is hoping he and his team can turn things around before then, especially since the Blazers had gone 10-4 in their previous 14-game stretch before this recent downturn.
“It was a rough road trip,” Avdija said. “Something we can learn from and leave in the past, especially how we opened games. We’ve got to take responsibility and just move forward.”
Avdija is confident the Blazers, who sit ninth in the West and are flirting with their first playoff berth since 2020-21, can right the ship.
“Nobody’s feeling sorry for ourselves,” Avdija said. “We’re in a good position. We worked hard to be in this position. We can’t let it go right now.”
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us .
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Trail Blazers Star Deni Avdija Gets Brutally Honest About His Injured Back appeared first on Heavy Sports .