The Portland Trail Blazers will be facing the Indiana Pacers to end the week, and there's a chance they could get back one of their key players. Deni Avdija has been out since Feb. 24 as he's been dealing with a low back injury, and the Trail Blazers have missed his impact on the floor.
They've also dealt with other injuries on the roster, but none has been more detrimental than Avdija's absence. There has been hope that he returns sooner rather than later, but the latest update shows optimism around him coming back, which is good news for a team trying to stay in the Western Conference Play-In race.
Here is Avdija's status before facing the Pacers.
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Deni Avdija's injury status vs. Pacers
Avdija is listed as questionable against the Pacers, which means he has a chance to return after his six-game absence. The last time the Trail Blazers saw Avdija was when they played the Phoenix Suns, but he only played one minute after re-injuring his lower back.
After the game, acting head coach Tiago Splitter spoke about Avdija's status heading into that game.
“Deni, like I said, he was questionable, he felt good before the game,” Splitter said. “His back just… He felt it again, we lose him and it's not easy. The team had to kind of figure it out offensively, but I think defensively, everybody stepped up and did an amazing job.”
Splitter was then asked whether there was a possibility that the Trail Blazers would consider shutting him down for the season because of the aggravating back injury.
“Well, I'm not a doctor, but yes,” Splitter responded when asked about the possibility of shutting down Deni Avdija. “I've got to probably see what's going on and dive deep there to see what's really happening.”
It looks like they don't plan on doing that, especially if he's listed as questionable.
