TITLE: Trail Blazers defeat Warriors 139-119 in first game after Chauncey Billups’ arrest
SLUG: trail-blazers-win-after-billups-arrest
CONTENT:
The Portland Trail Blazers returned to the court Friday night and beat the Golden State Warriors 139-119 at Moda Center, less than 24 hours after head coach Chauncey Billups was taken into federal custody in connection with an investigation into allegedly Mafia-backed rigged poker games.
Assistant coach Tiago Splitter, named interim coach earlier in the day, guided Portland to its first victory of the young season. “We all respect Chauncey and are thinking about him and his family, but we still have a job to do,” Splitter said following the win.
Rapid transition on the bench
General manager Joe Cronin met with players Thursday afternoon to explain the situation and promote Splitter. Lead assistant Nate Bjorkgren, who has previous NBA head-coaching experience, told Cronin the team would be best served with Splitter in charge while he continued to coordinate the defense.
Splitter, 40, joined the Blazers this summer after leading Paris Basketball to a French League title. He had gone to bed around 2 a.m. Thursday after reviewing game film and awoke four hours later to news of Billups’ arrest.
Game highlights
Deni Avdija paced Portland with 26 points on 11-for-18 shooting. Jerami Grant provided 22 points off the bench, and all five starters reached double figures. The Blazers hit 54% of their shots overall and knocked down 16 of 34 three-pointers (47%).
The Warriors, playing the second night of a back-to-back, could not keep pace. “This was about them and their great play,” Golden State coach Steve Kerr said. Kerr, who met Splitter in Paris during the 2024 Olympics, called the Brazilian “a talented guy” and praised Portland’s rebuilding effort in the post-Damian Lillard era.
Billups, 49, was arraigned Thursday morning on charges tied to the alleged poker-fixing scheme. The organization has not announced a timeline for his potential return.
Source: ESPN
