The Portland Trail Blazers played poorly in the fourth quarter of their season opener Wednesday night, then head coach Chauncey Billups was shut down early Thursday morning.
Tiago Splitter now takes over as interim coach of the Trail Blazers after Billups was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering as part of an FBI gambling investigation. Billups was placed on leave by the team.
The Trail Blazers will look to turn their attention to basketball on Friday night when they host the Golden State Warriors following the indiscriminate off-court developments.
Billups coached Portland on Wednesday night when the Trail Blazers led most of the way before losing 118-114 to the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves. The Trail Blazers were outscored 30-19 in the fourth quarter, while making just 4 of 19 shots (21.1%).
The setback appears to be a minor issue after Billups, a Hall of Fame player, allegedly participated in illegally rigged, Mafia-backed poker games. The Trail Blazers placed him on “immediate leave” and canceled their media availability session scheduled for Thursday.
Billups was one game into his fifth season as Portland’s coach. He has a record of 117-212.
Splitter will become the first Brazilian to serve as head coach of an NBA team. His previous experience includes assistant coaching positions 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.
“Anytime there’s a show to be made, he’ll do it,” longtime Golden State teammate Draymond Green said of Curry. “He did it in a major way.”
Jimmy Butler III added 21 points and Green was solid overall with 13 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. The Warriors were able to overcome a 50-point effort from Denver’s Aaron Gordon.
“We were disciplined as you can imagine for a second game,” Curry said. “Great victory for us.”
The Warriors opened the season with a 119-109 road victory over the Los Angeles Lakers before the showdown with the Nuggets.
According to Curry, there’s no time to rest with a road game 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) at Portland, so try to keep going. We understand the task at hand. The West (race means) every night there’s going to be something. We need to get as many wins as possible.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr hopes guard Moses Moody (calf) will make his season debut Friday. Veteran big man Al Horford will be out at the end of back-to-back games, having contributed 13 points Thursday, including a 3-pointer in overtime that put Golden State ahead for good.
One bright spot for Portland in Game 1 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 his new role. “Wherever I am, I will do what I have to do.”
After a few short answers, a reporter mentioned to Grant that he had been playing well off the bench.
Grant retorts: “I’m not becoming a worse player because I come off the bench.”
The Warriors have beaten Portland nine straight times, winning all three meetings last season by an average of 21 points.
–Field level media
