The Portland Trail Blazers played poorly in the fourth quarter of their season opener on Wednesday night, and then head coach Chauncey Billups was arrested early Thursday morning.
Now Tiago Splitter takes over as interim coach of the Trail Blazers after Billups was charged on counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering as part of a FBI gambling investigation. Billups was placed on leave by the team.
The Trail Blazers will try to turn their attention to basketball on Friday night when they host the Golden State Warriors in the wake of the blindsiding off-court developments.
Billups coached Portland on Wednesday night when the Trail Blazers led most of the way before falling 118-114 to the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves. The Trail Blazers were outscored 30-19 in the fourth quarter, when they made just 4 of 19 shots (21.1%).
That setback feels like a minor issue after Billups, a Hall of Fame player, allegedly took part in illegally fixed poker games backed by the Mafia. The Trail Blazers placed him on “immediate leave” and canceled their scheduled Thursday media availability session.
Billups was one game into his fifth season as Portland’s coach. He has a 117-212 record.
Splitter will become the first Brazilian to serve as head coach of an NBA team. His previous experience includes stints as an assistant coach with the Brooklyn Nets (2019-23) and Houston Rockets (2023-24). He played seven NBA seasons (2010-11 to 2016-17) and was a member of the San Antonio Spurs’ title-winning team in 2013-14.
Golden State improved to 2-0 on the young season with a dramatic 137-131 overtime win over the visiting Denver Nuggets on Thursday night.
Warriors star Stephen Curry recorded 42 points, seven assists and six rebounds. He scored 35 of his points after halftime.
“Any time there’s a show to be put on, he’s going to do it,” longtime Golden State teammate Draymond Green said of Curry. “He did that in a major way.”
Jimmy Butler III added 21 points and Green was solid all-around with 13 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. The Warriors managed to overcome a 50-point effort from Denver’s Aaron Gordon.
“We were disciplined as you can imagine for a Game 2 down the stretch,” Curry said. “Great win for us.”
The Warriors opened the season with a 119-109 road victory over the Los Angeles Lakers before the duel with the Nuggets.
As Curry sees it, there is no time for rest with a road game waiting against a third straight Western Conference opponent.
“There’s a sense of urgency for us to get off to a good start,” Curry said. “We have a game (Friday) in Portland, so try to keep it going. We understand the task at hand. The West (race means) every night there’s going to be something. We got to get as many wins as possible.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr is hopeful that guard Moses Moody (calf) will make his season debut on Friday. Veteran big man Al Horford will sit out on the back end of consecutive games, having contributed 13 points on Thursday, including an overtime 3-pointer that put Golden State on top for good.
A bright spot for Portland in the opener was the play of Jerami Grant. The veteran forward scored 29 points on 10-of-14 shooting while coming off the bench for the first time since the 2019-20 season, when he played for the Nuggets.
“I’m a basketball player,” Grant said of the changed role. “Wherever I’m at, I’m going to do what I’ve got to do.”
After a few more short answers, a reporter mentioned to Grant that he played well off the bench.
Grant’s retort: “I don’t become a worse player because I’m coming off the bench.”
The Warriors have defeated Portland nine straight times, winning last season’s three meetings by an average of 21 points.
