Another strong performance from Deni Avdija wasn’t enough on Saturday night (between Saturday and Sunday) for the Portland Trail Blazers. The Blazers came in encouraged after their huge win over Oklahoma City, but quickly came back down to earth with a 136-131 loss in Miami to the Heat — the first of a five-game road trip.
The Israeli forward tied his season high in points and delivered another outstanding individual showing: 33 points (12-of-21 from the field, 3-of-9 from three, and 6-of-7 from the free-throw line), 11 rebounds, 8 assists, and a block in 37 minutes on the court. His plus-minus rating (+24) was the highest among all players from both teams. Yet, just as in his previous 33-point outing — against the Lakers last week — it wasn’t enough to secure a win.
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(Photo: Jared Lennon / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
After setting a franchise record the night before with 53 points in the first quarter, Miami started this game in the complete opposite way. The Heat hit only one of their first 15 shots and fell behind 15-3. From there, though, they caught fire — scoring 69 points over the final 19 minutes of the first half, going into halftime up 72-65.
At the start of the third quarter, Portland came back and took the lead, 80-79, thanks to a three-pointer from Toumani Camara, but Miami answered with a 14-3 run to go up by 12. Game over? Not quite. The Blazers rallied again, led by Avdija, who scored 12 points in the third quarter alone, helping his team cut the deficit to 100-97 heading into the final 12 minutes.
From that point on, the game stayed close, with neither side leading by more than four points until crunch time. Avdija — averaging 25.3 points per game this season — continued his strong play on both ends, and a Jrue Holiday three-pointer with under four minutes left tied it at 123-123. Andrew Wiggins responded with a three of his own a minute and a half from the buzzer to make it 132-127 for Miami, and Portland couldn’t recover.
Nikola Jović starred for the Heat (now 6-4) with a career-high 29 points off the bench, along with 9 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals. Norman Powell added 22 points, and Pelle Larsson had 16. On the other side, besides Avdija, Shaedon Sharpe contributed 21 points and 9 rebounds, while Jrue Holiday and Jerami Grant each scored 18.
The Blazers, now 4-5, will look to get back on track Monday night in Orlando.
