Deni Avdija has not been himself lately. The Portland Trail Blazers rising star is coming off two of his worst games of the season, recording 17 points in a loss to the Wizards and 11 in a loss to the Knicks. He's struggled with both shooting efficiency and turnovers, which is a recipe for disaster considering how much Portland relies on him to generate offense.
Avdija is dealing with a lower back injury that he's injured twice now. He's currently listed as questionable for Portland's upcoming matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday. And although he's toughened it out and played in prior games, it could be in the Blazers' best long-term interest to sit him until he's back to full strength.
Blazers need Deni Avdija at full strength to have a shot at the postseason
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“To be honest with you, I’m just dealing with some stuff right now," Avdija said. "I have the competitive nature of trying to be there for my teammates and compete, but umm, it’s something I have to figure out with myself, with my teammates, with the coaches. Nothing to worry about, I’ll be alright. But it’s definitely a little moment I’m facing right now.”
Blazers beat reporter Casey Holdahl then asked Avdija how his back feels, to which he responded:
“I can’t really say anything about my injury or what’s going on, but I’ll leave it to the medical staff. I’m doing a good job of recovering and coming back, but I definitely don’t feel 100%.”
Given how cautious the Blazers' medical staff has been with injuries throughout the season, it's surprising that Avdija is playing if, by his own admission, he's not 100%. But it's not fair to compare the situations, as he doesn't face the same risk of a significant setback as, say, Scoot Henderson, who is dealing with a more pesky hamstring injury. Just look at how [Aaron Gordon's unfortunate situatio](https://nugglove.com/jokic-return-overshadowing-disaster-aaron-gordon-injury-update-nuggets)n has played out in Denver.
It's promising that Avdija added that it's nothing to worry about and reassured that he'd be fine. And while it's true he'll be fine in the long term, the reality is the Blazers desperately need him to carry them in the short term as well.
Portland is now 23-26 and 3.5 games back from the Golden State Warriors for the eighth seed. They want to end a four-year postseason drought, but their margin for error to achieve that in a stacked Western Conference is incredibly thin. They've been trending upward in 2026, but that momentum has come to a halt with Avdija's declining play as a result of his lingering injury.
All-Star weekend could present a good opportunity for Avdija to get back to full strength, but even that is two weeks away. With the number of injuries Portland has dealt with this season, they can't deal with any more adversity if they want to make the postseason.