The Portland Trail Blazers don’t have time to really process everything that’s happened in the last week. The NBA schedule doesn’t allow for it.
Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups was one of many arrested on Thursday as part of a years-long, wide-ranging federal investigation into rigged poker games, allegedly backed by the mafia, and other illegal gambling schemes.
That morning, the Blazers players learned, just as we all did, that their coach would not be coming back for the foreseeable future (if ever), Tiago Splitter learned that he’d be the Blazers interim head coach, and without skipping a beat they all had to get ready for a game on Friday night.
The Blazers have miraculously gone 3-1 since Billups’ arrest, including a 136-134 win over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday.
“They’re a great team, very talented, play the right way, play hard,” Walker Kessler said of the Blazers. “The interim coach has done a great job and they’ve been playing well.”
Utah Jazz guard Keyonte George (3) reacts after being roughed up on a play against the Portland Trail Blazers during an NBA game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Utah Jazz guard Ace Bailey (19) is fouled by Portland Trail Blazers guard Shaedon Sharpe (17) on his shot during an NBA game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Portland Trail Blazers head coach Tiago Splitter celebrates a basket from one of his players during an NBA game against the Utah Jazz held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Utah Jazz forward Taylor Hendricks (0) blocks a shot from Portland Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant (9) during an NBA game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Utah Jazz forward Brice Sensabaugh (28) evades Portland Trail Blazers guard Blake Wesley (1) with the help of a screen set by center Walker Kessler (24) during an NBA game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Utah Jazz guard Svi Mykhailiuk (10) goes up for a shot while guarded by Portland Trail Blazers guard Caleb Love (2) during an NBA game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Utah Jazz center Jusuf Nurkic (30) celebrates his 3-pointer against the Portland Trail Blazers during an NBA game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
The Portland Trail Blazers bench celebrates a teammate’s 3-pointer against the Utah Jazz during an NBA game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Utah Jazz head coach Will Hardy talks with a referee after a call during an NBA game against the Portland Trail Blazers held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Utah Jazz guard Keyonte George (3) reacts after being roughed up on a play against the Portland Trail Blazers during an NBA game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Utah Jazz forward Kyle Filipowski (22) drives the ball toward the basket while guarded by Portland Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija (8) during an NBA game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (23) pulls up for a jump shot against the Portland Trail Blazers during an NBA game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Portland Trail Blazers head coach Tiago Splitter calls out to his players during an NBA game against the Utah Jazz held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Portland Trail Blazers center Yang Hansen (16) and Utah Jazz forward Taylor Hendricks (0) compete for possession of a loose ball during an NBA game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (23) takes a jump shot while guarded by Portland Trail Blazers guard Jrue Holiday (5) during an NBA game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Utah Jazz center Jusuf Nurkic (30) and Portland Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant (9) talk as a player takes foul shots during an NBA game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (23) backs down Portland Trail Blazers guard Jrue Holiday (5) during an NBA game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Utah Jazz head coach Will Hardy looks to the scoreboard during an NBA game against the Portland Trail Blazers held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Smith Entertainment Group Chairman and CEO Ryan Smith talks with Utah Mammoth head coach André Tourigny during an NBA game between the Utah Jazz and the Portland Trail Blazers held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
The Utah Jazz Dancers perform in Halloween costumes during an NBA game between the Utah Jazz and the Portland Trail Blazers held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Portland Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija (8) passes the ball past Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler (24) and to center Donovan Clingan (23) during an NBA game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Utah Jazz head coach Will Hardy talks with a referee after a play during an NBA game against the Portland Trail Blazers held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler (24) drives the ball toward the basket while guarded by Portland Trail Blazers center Duop Reath (26) during an NBA game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Young Utah Jazz fans watch the action unfold late in the fourth quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers during an NBA game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler (24) reacts after a referee’s call during an NBA game against the Portland Trail Blazers held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Utah Jazz fans cheer after a basket late in the fourth quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers during an NBA game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, in gray, talks with Utah Jazz guard Keyonte George (3) from the bench during an NBA game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler (24) and Portland Trail Blazers center Donovan Clingan (23) compete for possession of the ball during an NBA game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Utah Jazz guard Elijah Harkless (16) slaps hands with guard Keyonte George (3) after a play against the Portland Trail Blazers during an NBA game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Utah Jazz guard Keyonte George (3) is helped off the court by guard Elijah Harkless (16) after George was roughed up on a play against the Portland Trail Blazers during an NBA game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard talks with his teammates during an NBA game against the Utah Jazz held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Portland Trail Blazers forward Toumani Camara (33) dunks the ball against the Utah Jazz during an NBA game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Utah Jazz forward Kevin Love (42) listens as head coach Will Hardy talks with him during an NBA game against the Portland Trail Blazers held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
On one hand, it’s hard to imagine being able to go about business as usual, and even exceed expectations — two of the Blazers’ wins over the last four games were against the Warriors and Clippers — on the other hand, this is the epitome of the age-old sports cliches, next man up, control what you can control.
On Wednesday, the Blazers controlled nearly everything for the first three quarters, outplaying the Jazz on both sides of the court.
“Credit to Portland,” Jazz head coach Will Hardy said. “I thought they just flat-out played harder than we did for three quarters — 22 turnovers, 14 of them live ball, not fighting for our space. We have to keep that same hunger and intensity that we’ve had the first three games."
The Jazz made an an attempt at a comeback, erasing what was once a 22-point Blazers lead, but the Jazz’s fourth-quarter efforts were too little too late.
At this point, though, teams should be expecting for the Blazers to defy expectations. They’ve added veteran play around their already bright young core and despite the level of the controversy surrounding the team, they’ve stayed level headed.
Even when fans at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles were chanting, “F-B-I” while players were at the free throw line, they kept their cool and came away with a win.
And as much as the players on the Blazers, or on any other team for that matter, would like to think that the NBA will come down hard and that gambling scandals will be a thing of the past, this is probably not the last time that we’ll hear about it.
The NBA and all sports are so intertwined with the gambling world at this point that it’s nearly impossible to consume any sports content without being confronted by betting company ads or information about odds as they relate to games, players and everything in between.
“Education for our players is something that not only we’re doing, but the league is doing. They understand the rules,” Hardy said. “Gambling is very close to the sport. It just is. I mean, if you sit close to the floor at any game the last five minutes, there’s a lot of people that are yelling at me and the other coach and everybody about what they want to see happen at the end, and our job is to coach the game.
“So it’s a it’s a hard topic, because pretending like it’s not there would be very naive. It’s very, very present. But again, our responsibility is to coach our team and do our jobs and not worry about any of that.”
If nothing else, the Blazers have proven this week that they are surviving the situation they’ve been thrust into by staying the course and doing their job the right way.