The Trail Blazers claimed a spot in the playoffs because Deni Avdija had his “superstar moment” in the team’s biggest game, writes Bill Oram of The Oregonian. Avdija exploded for 41 points in Tuesday’s play-in win at Phoenix, becoming just the fifth player to reach the 40-point mark in the tournament’s seven-year history. He hit the game-winning shot with 16.1 seconds left to play and drew contact that fouled out Dillon Brooks.
“I feel like he’s unique,” teammate Jrue Holiday said of Avdija. “Nobody does what he does. To be able to damn near have a triple-double, on kind of an off-night for him … is something you love to see in Deni because this is what we expect from him now.”
Oram views the victory as a statement game for not only Avdija, but also for interim head coach Tiago Splitter, who hopes to get the job on a permanent basis, for general manager Joe Cronin, who made some controversial moves that ultimately paid off, and for Jerami Grant, who scored 16 points in 19 minutes off the bench in his return from a calf strain.
Splitter was also impressed by Avdija, who delivered in his first opportunity to lead a team in the postseason.
“I don’t even think he had a great game,” Splitter said, “but he just kept going, kept believing in himself (and) scored a couple buckets at the end.”
There’s more on the Trail Blazers:
- Splitter has earned a new contract after leading Portland to its first playoff appearance in five years, Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report contends in a subscriber-only piece. He states that Splitter also delivered under pressure on Tuesday, calming the team during a time out midway through the fourth quarter that helped to reverse the momentum after Phoenix took an 11-point lead.
- There are concerns about whether new team owner Tom Dundon is willing to pay a competitive rate for a head coach, Oram states in another Oregonian story. Oram cites rumors around the league that Dundon wants his coach to earn about $1MM per year, roughly 25% of the typical salary for the position, which is why he’s looking at college coaches and ex-players such as Nuggets assistant Jared Dudley and Rockets assistant Royal Ivey, who might be willing to accept less money to get their first head coaching opportunity.
- Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated addresses the same theme, stating that Dundon is already expressing “sticker shock” at the high costs associated with being an NBA owner. Four sources tell Mannix that Dundon had several staffers check out of their Phoenix hotel rooms at noon ahead of Tuesday night’s game so the team wouldn’t be charged for an extra day. They spent hours in the hotel lobby waiting for the first bus to the arena.
- Scoot Henderson is finally getting a chance to be productive after injuries affected his first three NBA seasons. After missing the first 51 games this season with a torn left hamstring, the third pick in the 2023 draft has played his way into the starting lineup. “I never felt bad for myself,” Henderson said in an interview with Marc J. Spears of Andscape. “Even when [the injury] happened, I’m like, ‘I ain’t going to feel bad for myself.’ I just started laughing. I’m like, ‘All right. I see what’s happening. I see what the man above wants me to go through.’ I accepted it right when it happened. I’m into a different mode now. I’m at the recovery mode. I’m getting back healthy.”
Dundon doooonnnnnnnnn!