Portland Trail Blazers wing Deni Avdija continues to strengthen his All-Star case by the day. Today, it came in the form of a 41-point, six-rebound, two-assist performance in Portland's thrilling 103-102 home win over the Houston Rockets.
Avdija shot 13-of-24 from the field and continues to get to the line at an incredible rate, going 13-of-15 from the charity stripe in this contest. His 41 points were both a season high and the most he's recorded since joining the Blazers last season. It was also just two points shy of his career high, which he had with the Washington Wizards.
Trail Blazers stole an All-Star in Deni Avdija
At the rapid rate Avdija is improving, something tells us he'll break that career high by the end of the season. His star ascension is the key reason why an injury-plagued Blazers team remains in the playoff conversation. Portland now sits 9th in the Western Conference with an 18-20 record. Since Avdija has become the focal point of the team, it's no surprise that they're trending upwards as a team as he plays the best basketball of his career. The Blazers now have an active four-game winning streak and have won six of their last seven games.
Earlier in the season, it appeared that Portland's record would hurt Avdija's All-Star chances, but even that no longer remains an issue. What makes their record even more impressive is the quality of wins, defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets, and Houston Rockets -- arguably the three best teams in the league.
Portland has had some heartbreaking losses this season, including two buzzer beaters at the hands of Nikola Vucevic and Desmond Bane. Kevin Durant had a chance to add his name to that list, but missed a tightly contested midrange jumper. Tari Eason put himself in position for a potential game-winning tip, but the replay showed he still had his fingertips on the ball as time expired.
Houston will look to avenge this loss with a rematch scheduled for Friday at the Moda Center. Meanwhile, Portland will look to extend its winning streak to five. We would say this is another opportunity for Avdija to secure an All-Star spot, but with the way he's been playing lately, he should already be considered all but a lock.
And if he continues to have games like this one, the conversation will soon have to shift from All-Star to All-NBA.