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Deni Avdija needs to be shut down by the Trail Blazers
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- Deni Avdija needs to be shut down by the Trail Blazers
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The Portland Trail Blazers have watched Deni Avdija quickly ascend to stardom in just less than two years in their program. Now it's time to do right by him and protect him from himself.
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Avdija has had a fantastic season for the Blazers, earning his first All-Star selection while putting up career-highs across the board. In those first 40 games, Deni Avdija averaged 26.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 6.9 assists while shooting 46.8 percent from the field and 35.5 percent from three.
But the Trail Blazers forward suffered a back injury in the team's road home loss against the New York Knicks on January 11th. It was a game where he played a little over 38 minutes but admitted after the game he might have to miss some time.
Avdija would go on to miss three games, before returning and playing well in a win against the Sacramento Kings , putting up 30 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists in the win. But the back injury flared up again four days later in the team's next game against the Miami Heat. Avdija played just 17 minutes before departing and not returning.
This began a 18-game stretch in which Avdija played just eight games , and no more than two complete games in a row, if that.
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Coming out of the All-Star break, Deni Avdija played 30 minutes in a 54-point loss against the Nuggets and appeared fine despite the blowout nature of the game. But just 59 seconds into Portland's contest against the Phoenix Suns , Avdija gingerly walked over to the bench to ask to be subbed out after a post-up attempt and did not return with yet another back flare up.
Acting head coach Tiago Splitter spoke about Avdija's injury postgame and how the team rallied to beat the Suns despite playing without their leading ball-handler and playmaker.
"Deni, like I said, he was questionable, he felt good before the game," Splitter said . "His back just… He felt it again, we lose him and it's not easy. The team had to kind of figure it out offensively, but I think defensively, everybody stepped up and did an amazing job."
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Splitter also mentioned that the Trail Blazers may explore the possibility of sitting Avdija for longer as they diving deeper into the root of his recurring back injuries.
"Well, I'm not a doctor, but yes," Splitter responded when asked about the possibility of shutting down Deni Avdija. "I've got to probably see what's going on and dive deep there to see what's really happening."
At this stage, the Portland Trail Blazers need to do right by Avdija and have him sit out until his back is as close to 100 percent as possible. He's already scheduled to miss Tuesday night's game against Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves , but he should be benched for significantly more time in order to let his back properly heal.
The problem is that the Trail Blazers desperately need their All-Star forward as they continue to battle with the Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors , and LA Clippers for positioning in the play-in tournament.
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Entering Tuesday night, the seventh seeded Suns have a give game lead on the Blazers and the Warriors hold a 2.5 game lead. Meanwhile, the Clippers are sitting just a half-game behind Portland in the standings.
Additionally, Deni Avdija's Trail Blazers have lost the season series against the Suns, 2-1, won the season series against the Warriors, 3-1, and trail the season series against the Clippers, 2-0, with the final two matchups remaining in the final three weeks of the season.
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