Deni Avdija returned. The midseason surge continued. And the record reached .500 for the first time in two months.

It was another good day for the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Blazers defeated the Sacramento Kings 117-110 Sunday night at Golden 1 Center, punctuating Avdija’s return after a three-game absence with their third consecutive victory.

Donovan Clingan erupted for 21 points and 17 rebounds, Shaedon Sharpe recorded 27 points and seven rebounds and Toumani Camara added 17 points on 7-for-7 shooting. But it was the return of Avdija that caused the biggest stir as the Blazers (22-22) won for the 10th time in the last 13 games and moved to .500 for the first time since Nov. 14, when they were 6-6

The Blazers’ starting forward, who is in the middle of an All-Star caliber season, put on a show the day before the All-Star Game starters are scheduled to be announced — and put to rest any concerns about his balky back.

Avdija finished with 30 points, eight assists and eight rebounds in 32 minutes, and he wasted little time showing the lower back strain he suffered last Sunday would not be a hindrance. Avdija scored his first bucket one minute, 23 seconds into the game, swishing a 13-foot fadeaway jumper, and he went on to produce the highest-scoring first quarter of his career, a 15-point beauty that featured five field goals and four free throws.

By halftime, Avdija — who made six of his first eight shots — had 20 points, five rebounds and five assists, fueling a 64-53 Portland lead.

“Not bad for a guy that was out for like a week,” Blazers acting coach Tiago Splitter told reporters after the game.

Avdija finished 10 of 18 from the field, including 2 of 6 from three-point range, and made 8 of 8 free throws. He swished corner threes, he completed turbo-charged drives to the hoop and he tossed beautiful over-the-shoulder passes that led to fast-break dunks. He also produced in the clutch, scoring six of the Blazers’ final seven points to ice the win after the Kings (12-31) mounted a late rally.

The Blazers didn’t shoot well from the three-point range — they made just 8 of 32 long-range shots (25%) — but they walloped the Kings in the paint (scoring 62 points) and accumulated 23 second-chance points.

Clingan, who had a monster two-way performance, had a hand in that, corralling four of the Blazers’ 11 offensive rebounds and producing his third-highest scoring game of the season. The 7-foot-2 center recorded double-digit rebounds for the 27th time this season, including the seventh of 15 or more, tied for the second-most in the NBA.

The Blazers held a comfortable advantage for most of the night and when Clingan nailed a pair of free throws with 5:03 left, they led 108-95 and were seemingly cruising toward an easy win.

But the Kings, who entered the game riding a four-game winning streak, refused to roll over, sparking flashbacks to a December back-to-back between the teams that was decided by a total of six points and featured a memorable overtime game in Portland.

With Zach LaVine scoring inside and out, Malik Monk hitting threes and DeMar DeRozan delivering a little bit of everything, the Kings managed to whittle things down to a two-possession game in the closing minute.

But Sacramento went 0 for 3 from the field over the final 48.3 seconds and Avdija (4 of 4) and Sharpe (1 of 2) combined to make 4 of 5 free throws over the final 16.2 seconds, delivering the Blazers another win.

They improved to 3-0 against the Kings and 6-2 in the second game of back-to-backs this season.

“We just guarded late … rebounded the ball, really just made some big-time shots, big-time free throws and just stuck together,” Clingan told reporters after the game, when asked about the Blazers’ play down the stretch. “We didn’t let the pressure and the noise get to us. We just stuck together and did what we had to do.”

Next up

The Blazers play the Miami Heat on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Moda Center.