The Portland Trail Blazers saw their five-game win streak snapped Sunday night with a 123-114 home loss to the New York Knicks, but the bigger concern may be the health of breakout forward Deni Avdija.
The Israeli star led the Blazers with 25 points on 8-of-17 shooting, adding 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and a block in 38 minutes. But with under two minutes left in regulation, Avdija came down awkwardly after a rebound attempt and immediately clutched his lower back. He left for the locker room and did not return. The severity of the injury remains unclear.
“It’s a tough one, a tough hit after what he’s doing for us. I don’t want to sound the alarm too early, but yeah, I’m definitely worried about it,” head coach Tiago Splitter said postgame. Avdija, however, downplayed the scare: “I'm not really concerned. I'm a tough guy. I'm going to be alright.”
The injury comes as Avdija is playing the best basketball of his NBA career. Just days earlier, he posted a career-high 41 points against Houston and has emerged as a potential All-Star candidate. After a quiet first half Sunday, he came alive in the third quarter, capping a Portland rally with an and-one that gave the Blazers a 94-92 lead.
But the Knicks seized control down the stretch. After Portland tied the game at 92 early in the fourth on a Robert Williams dunk, New York responded with a 17-5 run. A Miles McBride triple made it 109-104, and a dagger three from Jalen Brunson pushed the lead to 117-107 with just over two minutes remaining, too much for the Blazers to overcome.
The game also marked key injury returns for both teams. Josh Hart was back for New York after missing nearly a month with an ankle injury, scoring 18 points. Portland welcomed Jrue Holiday back to the rotation for the first time since mid-November; he tallied 8 points in 16 minutes.
Brunson led the Knicks (25-14) with 26 points, OG Anunoby added 24, Karl-Anthony Towns posted a 20-point, 11-rebound double-double, and Mikal Bridges chipped in 18 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. The win snapped a five-game losing skid for New York.
For Portland (21-19), Sheadon Sharpe added 23 points, Caleb Love had 21, and Toumani Camara scored 11. The Blazers will look to bounce back in two days when they visit Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors.