PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The Portland Trail Blazers looked confident and poised during their Friday night matchup against the Golden State Warriors, taking them down 139-116.
Even despite the recent coaching changes due to Chauncey Billups being placed on immediate leave, the Blazers had eight players score in the double digits and shot 53% from the field as a team. Deni Avdija led the effort with 26 points, six assists, five rebounds, sinking 4-6 three-pointers and shooting 11-18 from the field.
Jrue Holiday recorded a double-double with 12 points and 11 assists. Jeremi Grant came off the bench to add 22 points. Portland would outscore or tie the Warriors in all but one quarter. The Warriors also racked up 25 turnovers compared to Portland’s 18.
Tiago Splitter was announced for the first time at Moda Center as the head coach and received a loud cheer from fans. Splitter was appointed Thursday morning after Billups was taken into custody in connection with an FBI investigation into alleged illegal high-stakes poker games involving coaches and operated by organized crime figures, leaving fans in shock.
“I’m still trying to understand whats going on” said the Interim Head Coach Splitter, “I’m super proud of the guys going through all this stuff and still going out there to perform. I’m impressed. Just to see their smile, it was a good sensation.”
Avdija also spoke postgame about the future of the Blazers and the recent changes, “We all love Chancy, he meant a lot to me and every person. At the end of the day we hope the best for him but we need to move forward.”
He continued, “Tiago has great basketball knowledge and he’s been great how he talks to players and approaches us, I love it. He told us to be there for each other because no team in the NBA feels sorry for us. This is the team, Tiago is our head coach now.”
Steph Curry led the Warriors with 35 points and Jonathan Kuminga added 16 with eight rebounds, but it was not enough to catch up to the Blazers. They drop to 2-1 on the season.
Portland will head to Los Angeles to take on the Clippers Sunday, Oct 26th at 6 p.m.
Emma Watkins
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