After winning four of their last five games, the Portland Trail Blazers will look to continue their strong start to the season on Saturday night when they visit the Miami Heat in the opener of a five-game road trip.
Portland bookended a three-game homestand with two-point wins over two of the last three NBA champions. The team posted a 109-107 victory over Denver in NBA Cup play on Oct. 31 and a 121-119 triumph vs. Oklahoma City on Wednesday.
Deni Avdija, the Blazers’ leading scorer this season at 24.4 points per game, scored 26 points to lead his team’s rally from 22 points down in the win over Thunder. Five Portland scorers went for at least 16 points in the game.
While Avdija has been the leading scorer in six of his team’s eight games, Portland has found balanced scoring between Jerami Grant’s 20.3 points per game in a reserve role, 18.1 points from Shaedon Sharpe, and 17.4 from veteran guard Jrue Holiday.
“We have people (who) are so encouraging,” Holiday said. “If I’m having an off-shooting night, or someone else, you’ve got (Damian Lillard, injured for the season, cheering from the sideline), you’ve got (Duop Reath), you’ve got Rob (Williams) just telling you to be consistent.”
Portland’s depth and balance have the team off to its best start through eight games since 2022-23. Looking to continue on that trajectory, the Blazers will aim for a strong start to their road swing.
Portland went just 14-27 away from home a season ago.
Miami, meanwhile, will play the second contest of a four-game homestand on Saturday and its second game in as many nights. The Heat opened the weekend on Friday with a 126-108 win over Charlotte in NBA Cup group-stage play.
Miami roared out of the gate in its return home from a four-game road swing in which it went 1-3, scoring 53 first-quarter points against the Hornets. Charlotte whittled away at the deficit, pulling within six points in the fourth quarter until a late Heat surge.
Norman Powell scored 25 points, Andrew Wiggins added 22, Pelle Larsson had 19 and Jaime Jaquez Jr. recorded 18 off the bench.
Miami already was down Bam Adebayo due to a toe injury. The duration of his void in the lineup was unclear as of Friday, but the Heat called up rookie center Vladislav Goldin to add to the frontcourt rotation.
Goldin, playing on a two-way contract, helped nearby Florida Atlantic to the NCAA Final Four in 2023. He did not play on Friday. Kel’el Ware started in Adebayo’s spot in the middle. Ware shot a dismal 3 of 13 from the floor and finished with seven points.
While game-planning for his team’s weekend back-to-back, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra also has had to deal with the loss of his home in Coral Gables, Fla., to a fire.
“It just hit me after the game,” Spoelstra said. “I want to go home. … In a perfect world, I’d rather go home.”
–Field Level Media
