Chauncey Billups Articles - Page 7

The Portland Trail Blazers were outclassed in the early going against the lowly Houston Rockets on Friday. Three days earlier, they trailed the LA Clippers by double-digits less than three minutes after tipoff. And on Sunday versus the depleted Denver Nuggets, Portland fell behind 24-8 in the first quarter, never coming closer than nine points […]

The Portland Trail Blazers entered Sunday’s matchup with the Denver Nuggets at 6-7, that relative success coming in spite of Damian Lillard enduring the longest slump of his career. Playing without their injured superstar against Nikola Jokic and company, though, nonetheless proved a reminder of just how reliant the Blazers remain on their best player—apparently both […]

The Portland Trail Blazers, coming off consecutive losses to Western Conference playoff hopefuls, badly needed a victory against the bottom-dwelling Houston Rockets on Friday night. But their 104-92 win over the Rockets at Toyota Center was about much more than breaking a two-game losing streak. Portland ended a six-game stretch of road losses to open […]

The Portland Trail Blazers dared to deploy drop pick-and-roll coverage against Devin Booker on Wednesday night, a bet that paid off as the Phoenix Suns star scored 12 points on 5-of-15 shooting. Chris Paul fared much better in that comfort zone and overall, but still fell short of the table-setting dominance that could’ve propelled the […]

The Portland Trail Blazers squandered another encouraging performance from Damian Lillard on Wednesday, losing to the Phoenix Suns 119-109 at Footprint Center. The loss comes about 24 hours after they fell in similarly competitive yet frustrating fashion to the LA Clippers, moving the Blazers to 5-7 on the regular season—and an unnerving 0-6 on the […]

The Portland Trail Blazers lost their fifth straight road game to open the regular season on Friday, falling to the LA Clippers 117-109 at Staples Center. After the game, Chauncey Billups bemoaned his team’s penchant for losing focus on defense away from the friendly confines of Moda Center, remarks echoed by Damian Lillard. The numbers, […]

The Portland Trail Blazers followed up a depressing three-game losing streak with a pair of wins at Moda Center in just over 24 hours. Ten games into the regular season, Chauncey Billups’ team is 5-5, enduring not only completely unforeseen struggles of its best player, but an ongoing investigation into allegations of workplace misconduct against […]

PORTLAND — It’s clear Damian Lillard didn’t break out of a career-worst slump the way he wanted during the Portland Trail Blazers’ 105-90 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday. Only all-time shot-makers could be a bit displeased with their jumper after hitting six threes. “I thought I shot the ball better,” Lillard said. […]

PORTLAND — The Portland Trail Blazers used an 18-5 run over the game’s final four minutes and 48 seconds for a rousing and much-needed 110-106 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Friday night. The crunch-time identity that’s been the Blazers’ hallmark for the better part of a decade, though, was almost completely absent for the […]

Chauncey Billups wasn’t most frustrated by the Cleveland Cavaliers canning 15 threes en route to 50 percent shooting from beyond the arc. Jarrett Allen’s “monster” 24-point night didn’t draw much ire from the rookie head coach, either. What really left Billups displeased after the Portland Trail Blazers’ loss to the short-handed Cavaliers on Wednesday was […]

The Portland Trail Blazers are heading home to Rip City winless following Wednesday’s disappointing 107-104 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, finishing a quick Eastern Conference road trip 0-3. Here are three key takeaways from another frustrating Blazers defeat. The Wrong Kind of Dame Time Lillard’s fingerprints were all over crunch-time…just not in the way Rip […]

Former NBA star and current head coach Chauncey Billups has high praise for Philadelphia 76ers guard, Tyrese Maxey. Before the game on Monday between the 76ers and the Portland Trail Blazers, Billups admitted that he’s a fan of the youngsters game, “He’s a high-energy guy,” he said. “I think he’s really skilled. “I think he’s […]

While Philadelphia 76ers fans were showering Damian Lillard with “We want Lillard” chants during Monday’s game, the cameras of the game’s broadcast focused on Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups who looked like he was smirking at what the Sixers faithful are doing. "We want Lillard" chants in Philly 👀 pic.twitter.com/23ZQujuGaJ — Bleacher Report […]

The Portland Trail Blazers squandered a seven-point halftime lead on Sunday, falling to the Charlotte Hornets 125-113 on the first leg of a tough Eastern Conference back-to-back. Here are three takeaways from the Blazers’ Halloween loss to Charlotte, one highlighted by another sinister shooting night from Damian Lillard. Porous Second-Half Defense Portland got control of […]

Almost two weeks into the regular season, the Portland Trail Blazers have been arguably the most volatile team in the NBA. At 3-2 following a pair of impressive double-digit victories over Western Conference playoff hopefuls, though, there’s plenty of reason for optimism in Rip City. Here are three overreactions for Portland based on its first […]

Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups has a message to the NBA: enjoy Damian Lillard’s struggles while he’s on it. … Well, sort of. Lillard has been on a rut since the start of the 2021-22 season, averaging just 17.8 points on 33.3 percent shooting from the field–including a horrendous 17.1 percent from deep. […]

The Memphis Grizzlies put up 57 points in the first half of Wednesday’s game, slicing and dicing the Portland Trail Blazers’ half-court defense en route to a stellar 116.3 offensive rating. More discouraging for Portland going into intermission? Ja Morant was underwhelming compared to the sky-high standard he set over the season’s first three games, […]

Forty-eight hours after reaching their peak, the Portland Trail Blazers hit rock bottom. Chauncey Billups’ new team was embarrassed by his old one on Monday night at Staples Center, falling 116-86 to the LA Clippers. Here are three takeaways from the Blazers’ 30-point drubbing, one every bit as ugly as the final score indicates—if not […]

Portland Trail Blazers’ Anfernee Simons has set the record straight with what he expects from Chauncey Billups as a coach. In his fourth year in the league, Blazers’ Anfernee Simons got the chance to be mentored by NBA legend Chauncey Billups, who is now head coaching for the first time since his retirement. As the […]

The Portland Trail Blazers will take on a winless LA Clippers squad at Staples Center on Monday night, but don’t blame Paul George. Picking up right where he left off from last year’s playoffs, George has thrived as the Clippers’ alpha dog without Kawhi Leonard over the first two games of the regular season, averaging […]

PORTLAND — The Portland Trail Blazers got both their first win of the regular season and the Chauncey Billups era in rousing fashion on Saturday night, blowing out the Phoenix Suns 134-105 at Moda Center. Here are four takeaways from Portland’s dominant victory over the reigning Western Conference champions, a game every bit as lopsided as […]

Damian Lillard wants to win a championship with the Portland Trail Blazers. He loves playing with longtime teammates like C.J. McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic, and has found a home living in Rip City. None of those factors, however, were ultimately what caused Lillard to back off a potential trade request over the summer that at […]

Candidacy for individual awards couldn’t be further from the Portland Trail Blazers’ minds as they prepare to host the Sacramento Kings. But just because Chauncey Billups, Damian Lillard and company are singularly focused on the task at hand doesn’t mean Blazers fans have better ways to kill time before tipoff of Wednesday night’s game than […]

Damian Lillard and Chauncey Billups don’t care about results in the preseason. That opinion is a convenient one for the franchise player and rookie head coach of a team that went winless in exhibition play, losing four games by a combined 95 points—and all of them by at least 14. Lillard and Billups weren’t lying, […]

The Portland Trail Blazers finished exhibition action on Friday night pretty much the same way it started, with a double-digit loss to the Golden State Warriors. Preseason basketball is hardly a surefire indicator of regular-season performance, and Chauncey Billups has stressed he sees it as nothing more than a glorified extension of practice. Results just […]

The Portland Trail Blazers bookended exhibition action the same way it started, with a double-digit loss to the Golden State Warriors. Unlike the preseason opener and a dispiriting two games to follow, though, the Blazers’ performance in the preseason finale provided some optimism how about how they may play on both ends of the floor […]

There’s only so much to glean from any preseason basketball game, but especially the Portland Trail Blazers’ exhibition finale. Damian Lillard isn’t playing on Friday night against the Golden State Warriors, and Chauncey Billups, remember, sees all preseason games as nothing more than a glorified extension of training camp practices anyway. No matter what happens […]

Chauncey Billups doesn’t care about wins and losses in the preseason. He views exhibition action as a glorified extension of training camp practices rather than a replica of preseason games, a perspective that could have shielded the Portland Trail Blazers from at least some criticism after their 36-point loss to the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday […]

The Portland Trail Blazers labored through Wednesday’s rare matinee matchup with the Phoenix Suns, falling 119-74 despite Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic playing well into the third quarter. Chris Paul didn’t suit up for the Suns at all, while Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges watched the second half from the bench. […]

Tipoff of one of the most significant seasons in Portland Trail Blazers history is barely more than a week away. As they prepare for a brief preseason road trip before opening at home against the Sacramento Kings on October 20th, here are four bold predictions about Damian Lillard and the Blazers for 2021-22. Blazers Rank […]

Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum are the Portland Trail Blazers. No star tandem in basketball is more synonymous with their incumbent team than Portland’s, a reality owed both to Lillard and McCollum’s longevity in Rip City as well just how much of the Blazers’ sustained success has been driven by them. Portland owns the league’s […]

The Portland Trail Blazers began the offseason dealing with incessant rumors concerning Damian Lillard‘s future in Rip City. Since then, Lillard and his teammates have quashed the idea of the All-Star point guard leaving the team multiple times. However, if Lillard contemplates a change of scenery, head coach Chauncey Billups would be the last person […]

One of the most consequential seasons in Portland Trail Blazers history tips off in exactly two weeks. Chauncey Billups’ team had the day off following its loss to the Golden State Warriors in the preseason opener, the second off-day Portland has enjoyed since training camp officially began September 28th. After a full week of practices—at […]

Analysis of the Portland Trail Blazers’ porous defense against the Golden State Warriors can wait, and there’s only so much to be gleaned from it in the first place. This is preseason basketball, remember, when offenses league-wide are expected to be ahead of defenses, let alone for a team with a rookie head coach who’s […]

The Chauncey Billups era has officially begun, and the Portland Trail Blazers seem reinvigorated as a result. But it’s easy to find confidence in the afterglow of Media Day, especially for a veteran team like Portland that clearly grew tired of hearing Terry Stotts’ voice during his ninth and final season in Rip City. Hope […]

The basketball ideals being instilled in the Portland Trail Blazers by Chauncey Billups were obvious even before his team tipped off training camp earlier this week. At Media Day on September 28, everyone taking the podium for Portland—from Neil Olshey to Billups and Damian Lillard to Cody Zeller—extolled the virtues of accountability, communication and attention […]

Damian Lillard’s pointed calls for the Portland Trail Blazers to make significant roster changes this summer went unanswered. His team enters 2021-22 with last season’s same core in place and an unchanged starting lineup. Portland’s four offseason additions come mostly on the margins, with Larry Nance Jr. the only one among them guaranteed to make […]

Load management and limiting a star player’s minutes in the regular season is the hot new thing in the NBA. For Portland Trail Blazers star CJ McCollum, though, he’d rather play more minutes if given the chance. When asked about potentially playing less in the regular season, the Blazers guard had this to say. (via […]

There were times last season when Jusuf Nurkic took matters into his own hands defensively for the Portland Trail Blazers. Terry Stotts didn’t outright forbid Nurkic from veering outside Portland’s ultra-conservative defensive scheme, even encouraging his random forays to the perimeter with a simple caveat. “Sometimes Nurk goes rogue,” Stotts said after the Blazers beat […]