Remember the old Portland Trail Blazers?
The team that pushed the pace and attacked from all angles and sent waves of bodies at opponents? The team that played hard and relentless and fun?
The team that made you forget about roster rebuilds and dream about the playoffs?
It made an appearance Monday night at the Moda Center.
Deni Avdija made an impressive return, Toumani Camara had a career night and the Blazers unleashed one of their best offensive performances of the season, pounding the Philadelphia 76ers 135-118 in a game that was even more lopsided than the final score suggests.
“That,” acting coach Tiago Splitter said, “was the type of basketball that we envisioned from the beginning of the season, to be honest.”
The positive mojo started about two hours before tipoff, when Splitter announced that Avdija would be returning after missing four consecutive games — and nine of the last 13 — with a lower back strain. It continued with a scorching first half by Camara, who swished five of six three-pointers and scored 17 points. And it reached a fever pitch in the third quarter, when the Blazers humiliated the 76ers 49-22, producing their highest-scoring quarter of the season and building a commanding 113-87 lead.
By the end of the night, after pushing the lead to as many as 31 points, the Blazers had handed out a season-high 35 assists, drained a season-high 22 three-pointers and fallen four points shy of their highest-scoring output of the season.
It helped that three Philadelphia starters — Joel Embiid (injury management), Paul George (suspension) and Dominick Barlow (illness) — were sidelined. But this was less about the 76ers (30-23), who had won six of their previous eight games, and more about the blistering Blazers (26-28).
With Avdija back in the lineup, the Blazers looked like a completely different team, playing with pace and polish and pizzazz.
Their passing and ball movement were as good as they’ve been all season, with Avdija tossing no-look, over-the-shoulder assists to Camara for threes, Scoot Henderson firing alley-oop lobs to Robert Williams III and Donovan Clingan and Jrue Holiday connecting with teammates all over the court. And the long-range shooting was prolific and well-rounded, with eight different Blazers connecting on at least one three-pointer.
Camara did the most damage, finishing with 30 points and eight threes — both career-highs — which was either a byproduct of a random hot night or his unexpected throwback look. The Blazers’ defensive anchor ditched the long hair he had been growing for roughly a year in favor of his old cornrows. And he wore a headband for the first time this season.
Afterward, during a postgame interview, multiple teammates chided him and shouted to “tell them about the headband.”
“I kind of wanted to have a restart,” he said. “A fresh start. I feel like I’m back to myself.”
Avdija, who had not played since Jan. 30, also looked like his old self. He opened the game with a driving layup through traffic, then followed with back-to-back assists on the next two Blazers possessions, connecting with Camara and Clingan for threes. And just like that, the Blazers led 8-5, had opened 3-for-3 from the field and were off and running toward one of the most dominant victories of the season.
It was almost like they missed having their All-Star point-forward, who recorded 26 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, falling two assists shy of a triple-double.
“He draws a lot of attention,” Clingan said of Avdija. “He moves the ball, he’s passing, he’s getting downhill and finding open guys. It’s a lot of fun. And as guys start trickling back and getting healthy, it’s going to be a lot more fun out there.”
It sure was a lot of fun in the third quarter. The Blazers’ offense was a blur of pretty passing, hot shooting and highlight-reel plays. They shot 62% from the field, including 53% from three-point range, and recorded an assist on 13 of 16 field goals, which featured three alley-oop dunks. Six different Blazers recorded an assist in the quarter, including Henderson (four), Holiday (three) and Avdija (three).
It was the first time this season Avdija, Henderson and Holiday have played in the same game — and it looked like it.
The Blazers were so hot in the third quarter, Willliams — who entered the game having made five threes all season — swished two.
The Blazers were so hot in the game, their pair of burly centers combined to make five threes (Clingan went 3 for 4 from long range).
The performance was a just reward for Clingan and Williams, who arrive at the Blazers’ practice facility every day and follow the same routine. They gobble up a round of morning vitamins, then open their workouts with a three-point shooting contest, during which the first center to make four threes at each spot on the floor wins.
The loser has to buy burritos.
“We battle for Chipotle every day,” Clingan said. “It’s fun.”
And sprinkled into Monday’s fun was a reality that was hard to remember last week, when the Blazers were limping toward their sixth consecutive defeat.
Now that almost every key player is healthy, the Blazers have a lot of weapons, a lot of bodies — and a lot of potential.
They’re starting to look like the old Blazers that started the season 6-3 and earned impressive wins over Denver, Oklahoma City and Golden State.
“We’re very dangerous,” Avdija said. “I think that was we looked like at the beginning of the year; how talented we are, how together we play, and how everybody here has given their effort 100%. That’s what winning teams do and I think there is a capability for a very, very good team here.”