The Washington Wizards returned back from their first West Coast road trip hoping for better, but at least finished on a positive note with a 109-103 win over the Utah Jazz to snap a season-worst four-game losing streak. A lot of Washington’s upset as a near double-digit underdog comes thanks to Deni Avdija’s season-high 30 minutes of play. Plus-minus is not always representative of an individual’s play every night, but Avdija’s game-high and season-best +23 accurately characterized the 20-year old’s impact.

“I think the others [teammates] wanted that win too, but I just wanted that win so much,” Avdija began his post-game availability. “We started the road trip tough, we lost three games, we should have won some of them and getting this last win on the road versus a very good Western Conference team means a lot.”

Despite Kyle Kuzma’s return to the starting lineup after he cleared health and safety protocols, Avdija’s return to the second unit coincided with his first three-game double-digit scoring streak. In three games at Sacramento, Phoenix, and Utah, Avdija totaled 40 points on 14-for-21 shooting including 5-for-8 from 3, 16 rebounds, 7 assists, and 5 steals. Last month head coach Wes Unseld Jr. shared his desire for Avdija to be more decisive on the offensive end and that has come to fruition of late. Avdija self-admittedly still has a long way to go offensively and that is as exciting as his current flashes.

“I think some of it is the minutes,” Unseld postulated about Avdija’s more consistent offense. “He’s showing that he can be a defensive stopper at times, he’s going to stay on the floor. He knows how to play, we know that. He’s been staying aggressive, letting the game come to him, and when the ball finds him, he’s confident he’ll step up and make a shot or he’s going to attack trying to find the big on the roll or look for a kickoff. He’s not going to do too much, which I like.”

Deni Avdija to Montrezl Harrell alley-oop in transition 👀 pic.twitter.com/B9necvAnUI

— Hoop District (@Hoop_District) December 16, 2021

While it is promising to see Avdija fill up the scoring column more, the second-year player continues to make his biggest impact on the defensive end. Unseld described Avdija holding All-Star Donovan Mitchell to 8 points on 3-for-9 shooting (24 points on 9-for-17 against others), “just another awesome defensive effort” as such showings become more and more frequent. Against a good Phoenix team with championship aspirations, Avdija held his 10 different matchups to a combined 5-for-17 shooting. Beloved by his teammates, Avdija has franchise cornerstone Bradley Beal throwing up the X in his honor. “Of course, who else can he throw it to,” Avdija joked after the game about if Beal was signaling him.

Bradley Beal throws up the X, Deni Avdija-esque 🙅🏽‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/B8GekUgvL9

— Hoop District (@Hoop_District) December 19, 2021

“The coaches trust me, the teammates trust me. I just wanted to say big shoutout to the team because it’s a team defense. At the end of the day, I can go through screens, under, over, chase guys, but if I don’t get the right amount of help from the guys, I won’t be able to make those stops,” Avdija began in his usual humble fashion. “The coaches trust my defense, they want me to guard the best player every game and I’m just taking pride in it and I like this job. I’m trying to grow for a minute, I’m trying to add more to my game, but [defense] is my bread and butter.”

“I just take pride, I take the challenge. I’m not backing off nobody, I’m not scared of anybody and I’m doing this for my team,” Avdija summarized his defensive mindset.

Washington’s next game will be on Thursday at Madison Square Garden against the Knicks after their scheduled Tuesday matchup at the Nets was canceled due to Brooklyn’s COVID-19 outbreak amongst players.