Deni Avdija Isn't Himself, and Neither are the Trail Blazers

📍NEW YORK — Deni Avdija wasn't going to miss the last two games.

He's been in and out of the Trail Blazers' lineup this month dealing with a lower back strain. As he said the day he hurt it earlier in January, "As soon as I'm walking on two feet, I'll be able to play." So there was no way he'd sit out the game in Washington, where he was drafted and played the first four years of his NBA career for the Wizards, or the one in New York, where he always enjoys a massive contingent of Israeli fans and media.

This three-game road trip didn't go well for the Blazers as a team or for their best player.

Portland went 0-3 over the week back east, with two very similar losses to Eastern Conference contenders in the Knicks and Celtics and an especially dispiriting loss to the bottom-dwelling Wizards. Nobody played particularly well, and in Friday night's loss at Madison Square Garden they turned the ball over 20 times and were outrebounded 52-37.

More concerning is Avdija, who missed the game in Boston and has been a shell of himself over the last two games since returning to the lineup. His current physical state is a good indicator of the state of the team, which has now lost four games in a row and slid back to three games below .500, bringing all of this month's positive momentum and good vibes to a halt.

On Sunday, Avdija is all but certain to be officially named an All-Star for the first time in his career. But it is suddenly worth wondering whether he'll be able to actually take the court in Los Angeles for that weekend's festivities, and whether it would be in the Blazers' best interests to shut him down at least through the break.

It doesn't seem like that's completely off the table, as much as he fights against missing any time at all.