The Trail Blazers overcome an unusual season to earn their first playoff berth in five years
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.
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.