The Portland Trail Blazers may have been through a lot in the past two days, but that didn’t show on the basketball court Friday. One day after head coach Chauncey Billups was arrested as part of a federal gambling probethe Blazers stormed to a 139-119 win over the Golden State Warriors.
Billups was arrested Thursday morning in connection with a sprawling FBI gambling investigationand was quickly placed on leave by the NBA. Tiago Splitter, an assistant coach in his first year with Portland, was elevated to interim head coach.
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And with Splitter at the helm, the Trail Blazers (1-1) picked up a resounding, evenly earned win, even as Golden State’s Stephen Curry put up 35 points. Eight Portland players ended with double-digit points, led by Deni Avdija with 26 and followed by Jerami Grant with 22 off the bench.
The Warriors came into the game 2-0, with both momentum and a distracted opponent. But Portland tuned out the noise for a statement win at home. After a narrow start, the Blazers pulled away in the second quarter, outscoring Golden State 41-28 in that quarter; they never looked back from there.
Chauncey Billups was arrested Thursday as part of a seismic federal gambling investigation
Per the FBI indictment, Billups is accused of being involved with an underground poker ringalongside former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones, who was also arrested Thursday. The Department of Justice alleges that Billups and Jones colluded with organized crime families to lure people to rigged games that fleeced victims out of millions of dollars. The sophisticated cheating scheme allegedly featured X-ray-equipped poker tables, rigged card shufflers, marked cards and the use of sensor-equipped contact lenses and glasses by colluding players at the table.
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In addition to Billups and Jones, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was arrested for a separate (but related) FBI gambling probe. Billups is not explicitly named in that investigation, which looked into illegal betting in NBA games, but appears to fit the description of an unnamed co-conspirator.
Soon after the two were arrested, the NBA released a statement announcing that Billups and Rozier had been placed on immediate leave.
Billups was arraigned in Portland on Thursday, and was released from custody; he is reportedly required to surrender his passport, and is not allowed to engage in gambling activities, possess firearms or travel, except for his upcoming trial in New York.
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His team, meanwhile, was left to keep playing, with the NBA season barely underway. Before Friday’s game against the Warriors, the mood in the Blazers’ locker room was somber, per the Associated Press.
“It’s not an easy situation. We’re thinking about him and his family,” Avdija said, via the AP. “We really love Chauncey and what he’s done for this organization. I don’t know the details and I don’t really want to get into that. I’m trying to focus on the game.”
Splitter, who had just a day to prepare for his first game as Portland’s interim head coach, said the team was focusing on moving forward.
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“Not great, not great. But like I said, we’ve got to move forward, we’ve got a job to do,” Splitter said. “We have a great opportunity in front of us to have a good season with this team and I’m excited about that.”
With that first game ending in a win, the Trail Blazers have certainly started to seize on that opportunity. But there’s plenty left to come this season, even just in the near future: Portland heads on a three-game trip next week, before returning home for the first NBA Cup game, against the Denver Nuggets.
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