Portland Trail Blazers center Deandre Ayton missed his eighth straight game with right knee tendonitis, but one young fan is glad that he rejoined the team as they took on the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night.

Near the tunnel, the Blazers big man played ‘rock paper scissors' with a young fan. And his shoe was on the line. Not a pair from the locker room, the actual sneaker he was wearing at the time:

On Monday, Ayton was upgraded from ‘out' to ‘doubtful' on the injury report, so he made the trip from Portland to New York City. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to play in the game. Center Moses Brown had been starting in his stead, but he is set for left wrist surgery this week. Duop Reath and Ibou Badji played the majority of center minutes for the Blazers.

Ayton was forced to watch a rough performance by the Blazers from the bench. The Knicks jumped out to an early lead behind 16 first quarter points from OG Anunoby and ran away with a 112-84 win that wasn't as close as the 28-point spread would indicate.

The Blazers are waiting eagerly to get their big man back. He's been a bright spot in the lineup for the team, averaging a double-double with 13 points and nearly 11 rebounds a contest. Ayton hasn't played since a Dec. 23 game against the Golden State Warriors. He's played in 24 games this year.

Up next for the Blazers (and hopefully Ayton): the team visits the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday.