Deni Avdija's D.C. Homecoming Was Blazers' Worst Loss of the Season

The Portland Trail Blazers are racking up losses at the worst possible time, with the February 5 trade deadline creeping around the corner and the franchise possibly justifying the potential sell-off of veteran pieces with its current performance.

On Tuesday night, the 2025-26 season bottomed out with the team's worst defeat of the year, a 115-111 loss to the Washington Wizards in Deni Avdija's return to his former homecourt to face the franchise that drafted and then traded him.

The Oregonian's Joe Freeman slapped that dubious label on the Blazers' third straight loss during their East Coast road trip, following a 102-94 defeat to the Boston Celtics on Monday night and a 110-98 loss to the Toronto Raptors last Friday.

"The Blazers suffered perhaps their worst loss of the season Tuesday night, falling 115-111 to the woeful Washington Wizards before 13,852 at Capital One Center," Freeman prefaced before saying, "It didn’t matter that Deni Avdija returned after a two-game injury absence. Or that Donovan Clingan had a record-setting performance. Or that Rayan Rupert provided an unexpected two-way boost off the bench.

"The Blazers were just plain bad in Washington, D.C."

Good can Come from Blazers' Shocking Loss to Wizards

Advija is injured, but he still played well. He had a 17-point, 14-board double-double. Still, he had six turnovers and had an inefficient game, by his standards, at least, leading to the loss. His four missed free throws could've been the difference in the loss.

As Portland head coach Tiago Splitter said about Avdija's injury, “It’s not easy, it takes time." While Splitter is optimistic that Avdija can return to full health eventually, the Blazers need to handle business against bottom-feeders like the Wizards if this season is to go anywhere.

Of course, losing games like this can ultimately be healthy for a team. Not every season is linear, and streaks run hot and cold for just about every franchise, minus the few charmed ones and the few snake-bitten ones.

If their best player underperforming in a highly emotional game to lead to a loss means the team is about to rip off a few wins and prove Rip City is here to stay this season, then losing at the Capital One Arena to the second-worst team in the league could be a Godsend.

Either that, or Tuesday's night's loss could go down as the turning point of a season that went from promising to hopeless, all in the span of one road trip up and down the eastern seaboard.

The New York Knicks are next Friday night at "The World's Most Famous Arena," Madison Square Garden.