The Portland Trail Blazers and Deni Avdija played one of their best games of the season Sunday afternoon against the Cleveland Cavaliers. They just didn’t leave Ohio with a win, falling 133-129 in an overtime heartbreaker.
The Blazers rode spirited defense and swagger to a lead as large 18 in the third quarter. Avdija produced a 30-point, 12-rebound, 10-assist triple-double on 8-13 shooting. But the East-leading Cavs — playing without star guard Donovan Mitchell — closed in on the Trail Blazers with a 3-point attack and then outlasted them in overtime.
With seven seconds left in OT and Portland trailing by two, Avdija concluded a frantic scramble sequence by going for the jugular, but his pull-up 3 hit off the back-end.