It’s tough to beat a quality team twice in a row. It’s doubly hard to do so when that opponent has Kevin Freaking Durant playing at the level of his all-time great reputation. But that’s what the Portland Trail Blazers did this week when they defeated the Houston Rockets twice in three days at the Moda Center.
The Rockets seemed fired up after the Blazers had escaped with a 103-102 win in an instant classic on Wednesday. In the postgame locker room after that game, Houston forward Tari Eason added
to the drama surrounding Friday’s rematch by saying Blazers star Deni Avdija was hard to guard for one reason: “Zebras” — i.e., referees giving him an unfair whistle. Then the Blazers responded to the challenge and the talk by overcoming the Rockets in crunch time again to pull off the 111-105 win.
In Friday’s postgame locker room, it was Avdija’s turn to speak his mind. Unprompted by reporters, he made it known he heard Eason’s comments, and they made that second win all the sweeter.
“It’s definitely fun to [beat] a team two nights in a row, after all the excuses in the locker room, all the Zebra stuff,” Avdija said. “I’m just here to play basketball. Even if I lose, I just own it.”
Avdija said his initial reaction to the comments was laughter. Then he addressed the inference that he’s getting special treatment from the refs or foul-baiting his way to the free throw line:
“I drive the most in the league. I’m very physical. I’m not shying away from contact. I’m going downhill, and I don’t care who’s in front of me. I’m going straight through ‘em. I’m not playing for those fouls, but I’m gonna get fouled. This is a part of the game. I can’t control it. I’m very aggressive. I initiate the contact, and that’s my game. I’m just saying, if it’s hard to stop, you gotta own it or do something else. … I’m not gonna say [the comments were] an excuse. I think it was coming from being emotional after the game, so I didn’t take it that way. I’ve been emotional after losses, too. But it’s fun that we overcame that.”
Choosing to respond to the criticism head-on felt like another star step for Avdija during this breakout season — equivalent to him racking up triple-doubles, facing nightly double-teams, or winning Western Conference Player of the Week. Rather than shying away from the moment, the 25-year-old forward stood up for himself and commanded respect.
Whether Eason was willing to do so with his words, the Rockets defense showed Avdija all kinds of respect on the court Friday. After Avdija carried Portland to the win two days earlier with 41 points, the Rockets blitzed him all night with double-teams and forced him to defer as much as possible. He worked through all that to finish with a 20 points (on 5-15 shooting) and six assists, but the Rockets forced him into five turnovers. They also made it clear Portland’s supporting cast would have to deliver if the Blazers wanted to get a second consecutive win.
This time around, the supporting cast had their star’s back and got the job done.
Blazers forward Toumani Camara scored a career-high 25 points, hitting five 3-pointers. Shaedon Sharpe provided badly needed offense with 20 points, eight rebounds, five assists and no turnovers. Big man Donovan Clingan produced eight points, 15 rebounds, and six assists, serving as a capable playmaker on the roll when Avdija released it to him. The two-way contract brigade of Sidy Cissoko (14 points, three steals, a team-high plus-28) and Caleb Love (18 points, four rebounds) was fantastic. After Robert Williams III exited the game early due to a knee issue, backup big Duop Reath filled in for some crucial minutes in the second half. In 11 minutes of action, Reath registered a big 3-pointer, five rebounds and two blocks, doing enough to get his name in The Box.
“In a night that, I’ll be honest, I struggled a little bit in the first half, guys stepped up,” Avdija said. “They made shots. They were aggressive. They believe in their work. … I’m very proud of the guys for a big win.”
“Deni creates so much attention from the other teams,” Blazers acting head coach Tiago Splitter said. “It’s not easy to score 40 points and then you come to a game and you get blitzed and you’re doing the right play every time. He was just trying to pass the ball to the guys, give it to whoever was rolling. And then we were finding shooters, cutters, etc. I give a lot of credit to Deni [for] being tough there even though he didn’t have his best night. Everybody just stayed in their role and did the right thing to chase that win.”
The all-around performance grabbed a win on a night that was supposed to belong to Durant. After dropping an efficient 37 points on Wednesday, the 37-year-old bucket-getter finished with a cool 30 points on 55% shooting. With 7:57 remaining in the third quarter, he knocked down a 3-pointer to give him him 31,422 career points, eclipsing Wilt Chamberlain for seventh on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. That was part of Durant’s 12 points in the quarter, helping Houston enter the final period with a 90-77 lead.
Then the most surprising phenomenon took place: The Blazers made their surge while Avdija took his usual rest at the start of the fourth quarter — a stretch that has doomed Portland all season. On Friday, a unit of Sharpe, Love, Cissoko, Reath and Yang Hansen sparked an 11-0 run over two minutes to get the Blazers back in the game.
“Just the confidence that these guys are getting,” Splitter said about what that pivotal run showed. “ … Just feeling confident out there knowing that we have a system, a way to play, and they just follow it.”
Avdjia reentered the game at the 6:34 mark facing a much more manageable 94-88 deficit. That’s when he got loose for seven points to help Portland overtake Houston. With under two minutes remaining, he made arguably his two biggest plays on the defensive end as Portland protected a narrow lead. First, Avdija stripped the ball from Amen Thompson as he attacked the paint on a fast break. On the very next play, Avdija dove to the deck to direct a loose ball to Camara and complete a crucial stop with 39 seconds left. After two Camara free throws, the Blazers led by six points. They wouldn’t have to sweat this one out to the final milliseconds like they did Wednesday.
“I just see the win in front of me,” Avdija said about those defensive plays. “Whatever I need to do to win the game, I’m just gonna do it.”
“That’s our head of the snake,” Love added. “Seeing him get on the floor like that, it fires everybody up.”
The win marked the rolling Blazers’ fifth in a row and seventh of their last eight. Back-to-back games against Durant and the title-contending Rockets didn’t manage to halt their momentum.
“I think we are growing,” Splitter said. “We are developing. This young group is getting better.”
