Deni Avdija drops 41 points in NBA postseason debut, leads Blazers to the playoffs
Deni Avdija showed he's got a little bit of the clutch gene in his initial foray into postseason basketball. The first-time All-Star followed a breakout regular season with a fantastic all-around performance in Tuesday's NBA play-in tournament, scoring 41 points to lead the Portland Trail Blazers over the Phoenix Suns for a 114-110 win to clinch the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
The Blazers are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2021 after clawing back from an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter.
PHOENIX (AP) — Deni Avdija showed he's got a little bit of the clutch gene in his initial foray into postseason basketball. The first-time All-Star followed a breakout regular season with a fantastic all-around performance in Tuesday's NBA play-in tournament, scoring 41 points to lead the Portland Trail Blazers over the Phoenix Suns for a 114-110 win to clinch the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
The Blazers are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2021 after clawing back from an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter. They'll face the No. 2 seed San Antonio Spurs in the first round.
“It's the best thing that's ever happened to me in my career so far,” Avdija said. The 25-year-old Avdija had never played in the NBA's postseason until Tuesday — toiling for more than five years on mediocre teams in Washington and Portland — but looked comfortable on the bigger stage. He had the winning three-point play with 16.