Blazers Power Rankings Affected By Deni Avdija Injury

"The Blazers remain safely in Play-In position, but only because nobody behind them is challenging them (or the Clippers) for one of the final two spots. They’re 2-4 since the All-Star break and their offense had a brutal weekend in Charlotte and Atlanta," Schuhmann wrote.

"The Blazers have two games left on the first of two post-break, five-game road trips, and they’ll be at a rest advantage in both Memphis and Houston. They’re just 3-4 (1-2 on the road) in rest-advantage games thus far."

SI.com, Peter Dewey (21)

"Portland has slipped to the No. 10 spot in the West, but it should remain in the play-in tournament with all the tanking teams around it. The Blazers' biggest issue may be Deni Avdija's back injury which has lingered for several weeks," Dewey wrote.

The Athletic, Law Murray (20)

"It could have been worse, but this was a rough week for the Trail Blazers. Shaedon Sharpe might be a frustrating player at times because of his middling efficiency, but there’s a chance he doesn’t play at all in March for a Portland team that isn’t exactly teeming with scoring depth. Deni Avdija only played four games in February as he deals with an aching back," Murray wrote.

"Perhaps the biggest issue is that Portland combines the worrisome personnel issues with a defense that consistently gets put in bad spots by the offense’s mistakes. Sunday’s loss in Atlanta was the eighth time this season that the Trail Blazers have allowed at least 30 points off turnovers."

Overview

It's clear that the Blazers are a better team when Avdija and Sharpe are out on the court. The Blazers are 23-25 when Avdija plays, and 6-8 when he doesn't, further proving his value to the team.

The teams the Blazers have beaten without Avdija are the Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies (twice), Utah Jazz and Chicago Bulls. The wins against the Hawks and Lakers are impressive, but the other four are against rebuilding teams later in the season.

Luckily for the Blazers, they won't have to play too much longer without Avdija in the lineup. Blazers acting head coach Tiago Splitter indicated that Avdija is close to returning, so the Blazers will have their leading scorer back in the lineup within the next couple of games.

"We have guys coming back. We're still trying to find our game out there, the lineups and who will play well with who. You have lineups that are more defensive, lineups that crash the boards better, and lineups that are better offensively. We still don't have a balance," Splitter said after the team lost to the Hawks over the weekend.

"We gotta find it, and now Deni is probably coming back soon, so we gotta be ready to adjust and find great first and second units that are balanced. Can't wait to get to them. We need these two days to rest now, to practice, to get ready for the next game."

A game against the Grizzlies on the road should help the Blazers get back on track after losing to the Charlotte Hornets and Hawks over the weekend. The hope is that Avdija can return with enough time before the playoffs so that he can get back into his rhythm and the Blazers can put out the best possible lineup for elimination games in the play-in tournament.