The first year of this website, in 2022-23, I started the season doing a notes column after every home game. I abandoned it after a few months because other things got in the way. But since then, I've wanted to have a place to put thoughts and notes from games that weren't worth their own story.
So that's what I'm going to do every Sunday (-ish) for the rest of the season. I'm going to make them free for the rest of the month of January, and then they'll be for paid subscribers only after that. I'm getting back on the road later in the month and will be doing quite a lot of traveling with the team after the All-Star break, so there will be unique insights in these columns. And you becoming a paid subscriber helps me offset those travel costs.
Deni Avdija kicked off the week by being named Western Conference Player of the Week for the first time in his career.
He's been even better this week.
Avdija scored a season-high 41 points in Wednesday's win over the Houston Rockets. The next game, with Houston turning up the defensive pressure and limiting him for most of the game, he was still the one that brought it home. In the final four minutes of the game, he knocked down a three, hit all four of his free throws and made two key defensive stops.
“Deni creates so much attention from the other teams,” Tiago Splitter said after the second Rockets win. “It’s not easy to score 40 points and then you come to a game and you get blitzed and you’re doing the right play every time. He was just trying to pass the ball to the guys, give it to whoever was rolling. And then we were finding shooters, cutters, etc. I give a lot of credit to Deni [for] being tough there even though he didn’t have his best night. Everybody just stayed in their role and did the right thing to chase that win.”
The Blazers didn't want to rely on Avdija this much, but because of injuries, they've had to. And he's proven he's up for what they've asked and needed him to do to keep them afloat. He's played the most minutes in the NBA, and while his eye-popping per-game numbers (26.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, 7 assists) are a product of his career-high 28.8 percent usage rate, his scoring efficiency has essentially held steady with what it was last year.
In the most recent fan-voting returns for the upcoming All-Star game, Avdija was seventh among players in the Western Conference, with over a million votes. More than Kevin Durant or LeBron James.
The Blazers' PR team has put a lot into Avdija's All-Star campaign, as every team does with their couple of best players. But this is the first time since Damian Lillard that the Blazers have had a player who not only is deserving of being an All-Star but has a real shot at it, too.
Avdija isn't going to be voted in as a starter, but the reserves are picked by the other Western Conference coaches. They know as well as anyone that he should be there, because they're the ones that have had to try to slow him down this season, and keep him off the foul line.
About that...
I liked the way Avdija responded to Tari Eason's "zebras" comment after the first win over the Rockets.
"It made me laugh, for real," he said. "Honestly, let’s address it. I drive the most in the league, I’m very physical, I don’t shy away from contact. I’m going downhill. I don’t care who’s in front of me, I’m going straight through him. I don’t play for those fouls, but I’m going to get fouled. It’s a part of the game. I can’t control it. I’m very aggressive. I initiate the contact, and that’s my game. I’m just saying, if it’s hard to stop, you’ve got to own it or do something else. But I’m very humble, I work hard and I make the right play every time."
Avdija brought the comment up unprompted. He clearly wanted to get that off his chest. And he's right: if teams don't like it, they should figure out a way to stop it.
I'll be honest: I don't love how much he complains to the referees after he doesn't get a foul call. It's bordering on Luka Doncic levels. It gets old. And I wonder how he's going to adjust if the Blazers make the playoffs, when referees tend to let more stuff go.
But those are things the Blazers will worry about if they get to the playoffs, which they haven't in five years. There's half a season to go, but they're heading in the right direction. And that's in no small part because of Avdija.
There might finally be some movement on the injury front. Jrue Holiday was upgraded to "Questionable" ahead of this afternoon's matchup with the Knicks. He was listed as "Doubtful" the day before Friday's win over the Rockets before being ruled out. The "Questionable" designation means it's a coin flip, but when a player who's been out for a while is listed that way, it's usually a sign that they're at least intending to play. Holiday hasn't played since Nov. 14, missing the Blazers' last 27 games with a right calf strain.
Robert Williams III, meanwhile, left Friday's game in the second half with soreness in his right knee—the same knee he had a procedure on last season and missed training camp and the start of the season recovering from. Splitter said after the game that Williams didn't hurt the knee on a specific play, it just flared up and they decided to be cautious. He's listed as "Questionable" for tonight, but given his history, I would expect them to be cautious and not play him if he's anything less than 100 percent.
Williams' injury status is worth watching ahead of the trade deadline next month, but if he misses time in the short term, it could also mean more regular minutes for Yang Hansen. I thought Yang looked good in the first game against the Rockets and less so in the second game. Splitter, who has been very critical of Yang throughout his rookie season and has been reluctant to play him big minutes unless injuries force him to, seems to be happy with his progress: "I think Hansen has been playing well lately," he said Friday. "He's fighting, he's trying. He's competing to win basketball games. He's fighting with probably the strongest center in the league right now [Steven Adams]. I'm happy with what I saw these last two games from Hansen."
Somewhere in the first Rockets game, Yang picked up some pretty impressive gashes on his right shoulder. His understanding of English is good enough now that in the locker room after that game, I asked him if it was Steven Adams that gave them to him and he responded, "I don't know." The on-court part of his rookie season has been uneven (Adams is a one-man graduate-level education in the physicality of the NBA for a 20-year-old), but Yang's comfort level in America and with the language seems to be improving by the day. It's good to see and makes me optimistic about his future.
I still don't know if Rayan Rupert is ever going to be able to do enough on offense to stick long-term, but he's been very good defensively when he's been given more minutes recently.
Recipients of The Box this week: Sidy Cissoko on Monday against the Jazz, Toumani Camara (and his missing tooth) on Wednesday against the Rockets and Duop Reath on Friday in the rematch.
I was very happy to see my friend, Blazers radio play-by-play announcer Travis Demers, announced as the Oregon Sportscaster of the Year this week. Much-deserved national recognition for someone who's great at his job, works incredibly hard and doesn't get the attention he should. Well done.
🏠 Sunday: vs. New York Knicks (3 p.m., Moda Center) ✈️ Tuesday: at Golden State Warriors (8 p.m., Chase Center, NBC/Peacock) 🏠 Thursday: vs. Atlanta Hawks (7 p.m., Moda Center) 🏠 Saturday: vs. Los Angeles Lakers (7 p.m., Moda Center)
Sean Highkin
Sean Highkin
Sean Highkin
