PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The Trail Blazers' season started with their coach's arrest in an alleged gambling scheme. It ended with Portland in the playoffs for the first time since 2021.
It's been an unusual path to the postseason for the Blazers, who also overcame a January slump, some untimely injuries and the sale of the team to finish the regular season at 42-40.
Portland earned the seventh seed in the Western Conference playoffs with a 114-110 victory
over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night. The Blazers will open on the road against the second-seeded San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.
“I think we kind of saw the vision," Blazers guard Jrue Holiday said. "We saw the finish line, and we wanted to get there.”
Just hours after the Blazers opened the season with a 118-114 loss to Minnesota, coach Chauncey Billups was taken into custody in an early morning raid, part of an FBI takedown of two sprawling gambling operations that authorities said leaked inside information about NBA athletes and rigged poker games.
Tiago Splitter, who won an NBA title with the Spurs in 2014 as a player and was just added to Billups’ staff in June, was named interim coach.
Splitter was tasked with taking a rebuilding project centered around young talent to the next level. It appeared midway through the season that the Blazers, who were 19-22, might be hurt by a string of injuries. Deni Avdija was among the players who missed time because of a nagging back injury. Holiday and Scoot Henderson also missed stretches.
“It wasn’t easy for us. It wasn’t, easy for anybody. We love Chauncey. He was a great coach,” Avdija said. “We just stayed together. Feel like Thiago came in, took over, brought the energy every single night, wanted us to succeed. He believed in each and every single one of us, and paid out, and paid out even when we didn’t feel like we had anything, even nights that we didn’t win or we were in losing streaks. I feel like looking back and seeing where we had right now, I mean, job is not done yet, but it’s definitely progress.”
The Blazers returned from the All-Star break committed to securing a play-in spot.
“We wanted to make that push. We were kind of just hanging on throughout December and January, because we were missing so many guys, and we had a lot of guys step up and do really good things that helped us be in a position that we are now,” forward Kris Murray said. “I feel like after the All-Star break, we started kind of emphasizing a lot of games that we need to win, and we knew that we had to have a good record post All-Star.”
But it wasn't just Billups and injuries, there was also background noise surrounding the sale of the team. Before the start of the season, the estate of late owner Paul Allen agreed to sell the team to a group led by businessman Tom Dundon, who was then majority owner of the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes.
There was concern the team might be moved from Portland, but it appears that Dundon and the other owners have no intention of relocating the Blazers. The NBA's Board of Governors approved the sale in late March.
Portland won 10 of its last 14 games down the stretch, including two key games against the Los Angeles Clippers as they battled for the play-in spot.
Avdija has been essential to Portland's success. He averaged 24.2 points and 6.7 assists this season, earned an All-Star nod and went off with 41 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds in the playoff-clinching victory over the Suns.
Now the so-called second season begins for Portland. But it will be challenging against Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs, who went 62-20 in their best season in a decade.
“I feel like we just have to go out there and do it,” Holiday said. “Don’t really have to overthink it. I think the way that we’ve taken care of the business the second half of the season, being able to win games, being able to execute game plans and go out there and do it on the court and get some really good teams has been huge for us.”
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