The Portland Trail Blazers expect their star attraction to suit up and play when they host the Toronto Raptors on Friday night.
All-Star candidate Deni Avdija left with back soreness during the third quarter of Thursday’s 127-110 home win over the Miami Heat. However, interim coach Tiago Splitter expects to see the standout forward on the court when Portland seeks its fifth straight win.
“I think he’ll be fine,” Splitter said, adding Avdija’s back stiffened up. “… It was my decision to take him out of the game.”
Avdija lobbied to stay in but Splitter didn’t want to take any chances on the front end of a back-to-back.
“Tiago does a great job making decisions to protect me,” Avdija said. “There’s a lot of season left. We don’t want to do anything that will affect the season in the long run.”
Avdija was in the midst of another huge outing and had 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists in 18 minutes before exiting.
Avdija was playing in just his second game since missing three contests with lower-back issues.
Shaedon Sharpe picked up the slack in the second half by scoring 24 of his 27 points. He had 12 points in both the third and four quarters.
Sharpe was 10-of-13 shooting in the second half after hitting just 1 of 8 shots over the first 24 minutes. He also had seven rebounds and four steals.
“I just kept shooting,” Sharpe said. ‘My teammates encouraged me to keep shooting. I’ve been working in the gym on my shot so why not shoot the ball?
“In the second half, I just saw the ball go in and kept shooting.”
The victory was Portland’s 11th in the past 14 games and also moved the club above .500.
“We’re playing together,” Sharpe said of the recent Portland roll. “We have each other’s back and we’re having fun in the process. We have a lot more games left and let’s keep rolling.”
The Raptors are 2-1 on a five-game road trip against Western Conference teams.
After losing 110-93 to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, Toronto rolled to a 145-127 win over the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday and followed up with a 122-109 triumph over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday.
“We’re making good decisions,” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said after the win over the Kings. “For a stretch of games, we were just more comfortable understanding that when our good shooters are taking shots, we’ve got to live with the outcome.”
Immanuel Quickley erupted to match his career bests of 40 points and seven 3-pointers as the Raptors set a franchise regular-season record for points in a game with the splurge against the Warriors.
Against the Kings, Scottie Barnes led Toronto with an all-around effort that included 23 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and four steals. He has scored 22 or more points in each of the past five games.
Brandon Ingram also had 23 points while Sandro Mamukelashvili added 22 points and nine rebounds.
Rajakovic was ecstatic over Mamukelashvili’s performance.
“Sandro is helping us in so many ways,” Rajakovic said. “His rebounding is improving, and we’re using him more in pick-and-rolls to roll rather than pop. He’s providing a completely different dimension — spacing, scoring, and defensively, he’s smart and knows how to guard different personnel.”
RJ Barrett (left ankle sprain) and Collin Murray-Bowles (left thumb contusion) are listed as questionable for the Raptors. Barrett has missed the past seven games and Murray-Bowles missed the last two contests.
Toronto recorded a 121-118 home victory over Portland on Dec. 2 as Barnes recorded 28 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Avdija had 25 points, a career-high 14 assists and eight rebounds for the Trail Blazers.
That victory snapped Portland’s four-game winning streak in the series.
