Deni Avdija, Blazers eager to go again, starting with Nuggets

The Portland Trail Blazers are taking pride that they are in the running for postseason play after the All-Star break, as they haven't participated in the playoffs since the 2020-21 season.

The Trail Blazers resume play with a tough home test on Friday night against the Denver Nuggets.

A 27-29 record might not sound too imposing, but Portland has only exceeded that win total twice over 82 games during the previous four campaigns.

The Trail Blazers won four of five to close play before the break. Plus, All-Star forward Deni Avdija pronounced his aching back no longer a problem on Thursday.

"We're healthy, we're ready to go," said Avdija, who missed 10 of the past 16 games. "Our spirits are up. We're in a good spot in the standings and our confidence is really good right now. So we're working out, the team chemistry is there, everybody's happy for each other and we just want to finish those 26 games strong."

Avdija's ascent to All-Star status has been a pivotal reason why the Trail Blazers reside in 10th place in the Western Conference. He leads Portland in scoring (25.2) and assists (6.6) and ranks second in rebounding (7.2).

The Los Angeles Clippers moved past Portland into ninth place in the Western Conference on Thursday by edging the visiting Nuggets 115-114.

The Trail Blazers hold a 5 1/2-game advantage over the Memphis Grizzlies, the 11th-place team in the West. The top six finishers get postseason berths while the No. 7 through 10 finishers start in the play-in round.

While the situation looks promising, Portland interim coach Tiago Splitter isn't the least bit relaxed.

"We've got work to do," Splitter said. "We've got to get better defensively, offensively, control better the rebounds, take care of the ball, turnovers. And then get the group back, a lot of guys that were on minutes restrictions, guys coming back from injury. Then we've got to put all of that together."

Portland shooting guard Shaedon Sharpe (left calf strain) will miss his fifth straight game.

Denver fell into fourth in the West with the Thursday loss but is well on its way to its eight straight playoff berth. The Nuggets were the champions of the 2022-23 season.

Denver had a chance to force overtime against the Clippers when Jamal Murray was fouled while taking a 3-point shot with 0.9 seconds left. Murray made the first two free throws before missing the third.

"Jamal gave us a chance at the end on the free-throw line," Nuggets coach David Adelman said. "He's the guy that we trust the most on our team to make those shots."

Murray scored 20 points but was just 5 of 15 from the field. He made 8 of 10 from the line.

Nikola Jokic shot just 9-for-22 while registering 22 points, 17 rebounds and six assists.

"We're not making big shots," Jokic said after the team's fifth loss in seven games. "Hopefully that will change."

Bruce Brown scored 19 points off the Denver bench while Cameron Johnson and Julian Strawther added 18 points apiece. All of Strawther's points came on his career-high-tying six 3-pointers.

The Nuggets allowed 70 second-half points to Los Angeles. A major gaffe was a defensive breakdown in which Johnson and Jokic switched late on an inbounds play, allowing the Clippers' Brook Lopez to race in for a dunk that gave Los Angeles a four-point lead with 13 seconds to play.

The Trail Blazers won their first meeting of the season against Denver 109-107 in Portland on Oct. 31 when Jerami Grant made two free throws with 1.4 seconds remaining. Avdija scored 23 points for the Trail Blazers while Murray scored 22 and Jokic had 21 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists for the Nuggets.