In one corner of the Portland Trail Blazers locker room, a two-time All-Star smiled and spoke about his pain-free return to the court after missing more than eight weeks with a calf injury.
In another corner of the locker room, a future All-Star sported a wrap around his lower back, winced at any movement and struggled to bend over and remove his socks for a postgame shower.
Such is the 2025-26 Blazers season.
“It just kind of sucks,” Blazers veteran point guard Jrue Holiday said. “One person comes back, another person gets hurt.”
Deni Avdija suffered a lower back injury Sunday afternoon during the Blazers’ 123-114 loss to the New York Knicks at Moda Center, spoiling the eagerly-anticipated return of Holiday from a 27-game absence.
The Knicks (25-14) ended Portland’s five-game winning streak with a dominant closing four minutes. But for an injury-ravaged team that has seen 11 players miss a combined 219 games this season, the health of the Blazers’ franchise cornerstone was all that mattered.
Avdija tweaked his back with 1:56 left, when he elevated in the paint to corral a rebound in traffic. Avdija beat Josh Hart to the rebound, landed feet-first on the court and instantly reached toward the left side of his lower back, rolling the ball lightly to Caleb Love. The Blazers’ starting forward immediately pointed toward the sideline in search of a sub and acting coach Tiago Splitter called a timeout, prompting Avdija to hobble past the Blazers’ bench into the tunnel and toward the training room without stopping to talk to teammates and coaches.
By the time he emerged in the locker room following extensive postgame treatment, all but two players had cleared out and Avdija was in noticeable pain. He wore a wrap around his midsection, couldn’t bend over to remove his socks and couldn’t sit down to conduct an interview with reporters.
It was an ominous scene. But Avdija did his best to downplay the situation, calling his injury “nothing major” and saying “I’m not really concerned.”
“I’m going to recover as fast as I can and try to come back,” Avdija said, adding “I just felt my back give up on me and I couldn’t straighten up.”
Avdija, who said he’s played through low-back pain in the past, called his playing status moving forward “TBD.”
“I’m a tough guy,” said Avdija, who recorded 25 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals against the Knicks. “I’m going to be all right. … I’m telling you, as soon as I’m walking on two feet, I’ll be able to play.”
It goes without saying that a significant — or lengthy — setback for Avdija would be debilitating for the shorthanded Blazers (19-21), who entered Sunday’s game playing their best basketball of the season despite fighting through a barrage of injuries and illnesses.
The reigning Western Conference Player of the Week not only has been Portland’s most electric player, but also its most reliable — he’s averaging 26.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 7.0 assists, and leads the NBA in minutes played with 1,414.
As injuries have threatened to derail the season, Avdija has been instrumental in keeping the Blazers afloat, serving as their primary ball-handler and playmaker in the wake of injuries to Holiday, Scoot Henderson and Blake Wesley, which left them without a natural point guard for roughly two months.
“He’s an All-Star,” Love said last week.
After the game, the Blazers were hoping for the best, but they couldn’t help but carry a twinge of concern.
“It’s a tough one, a tough hit, after what he’s doing for us,” Splitter said. “I don’t want to sound (the alarm) too early. But I’m definitely worried.”
Avdija’s injury put a damper on the return of Holiday, who played for the first time since Nov. 14. He came off the bench and played under a minute-restriction, which will continue as Holiday works back into midseason form, but he offered a taste of the scoring, playmaking and leadership the Blazers have longed for during his absence.
Holiday checked in Sunday with 7:19 left in the first quarter to a lengthy ovation from the Moda Center faithful and wasted little time working into the fray, swishing a pull-up three-pointer in transition less than a minute later. He went on to play 16 minutes, finishing with eight points, four assists, two rebounds and one steal.
Holiday made just 2 of 7 shots, including 2 of 4 threes, but looked smooth and worked seamlessly into the flow of the game. The Knicks won an entertaining and competitive game thanks to an impressive finish — they outscored the Blazers 20-10 over the final 4:15 — but Portland earned a long-term win with Holiday’s return; he reported no pain after the game.
“I wish we would have won,” Holiday said. “That would have been great. But I felt pretty good. It’s been a long time since I played. First game back, (so I) tried to get the jitters out and everything and go out there and play. … Honestly, I think I did great. A lot of people said it didn’t seem like I missed too much of a beat.”
Holiday said he never imagined he’d be sidelined for more than eight weeks, but every time he ramped up basketball activities during his rehabilitation, the pain resurfaced — or worsened. Finally, after multiple pain-free workouts, which included some five-on-five scrimmaging but mostly two-on-two and three-on-three games, he was cleared to return.
When Toumani Camara saw Holiday stroll into the locker room on Sunday, he couldn’t help but smile.
“I could tell his vibe was a little bit different,” Camara said.
The vibe was less enthusiastic after the game, however, as Avdija hobbled around the locker room.
Just as one important player returned, another went down, and all the Blazers could do was hope for the best.
“He’s a fighter,” Love said of Avdija. “So I believe he’s going to be all right.”
Next up
The Blazers play the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday at 8 p.m. at Chase Center.