The Emirates NBA Cup™️ Came at a Perfect Time for Trail Blazers
The Blazers outlasted Denver in a Cup thriller.
The Rose Garden Report is a fully independent publication providing coverage of the Portland Trail Blazers you can’t get anywhere else. Purchasing a premium subscription gives you full access to all articles and ability to participate in mailbags, as well as helping to cover travel costs and other expenses to bring you the best coverage possible.
📍PORTLAND, Ore. — The Trail Blazers have navigated a tough early-season circumstance as well as anybody could.
In the eight days since head coach Chauncey Billups' shocking arrest and indictment in an FBI gambling probe, the whole organization has been preaching a next-man-up mentality, treating a national scandal like it's a routine injury, trade or other normal in-season setback. It is what it is, you just have to control what you can control has been the refrain from all corners of the Moda Center.
And amazingly, it's working.
The Blazers are 4-1 under acting head coach Tiago Splitter, who hasn't missed a beat since stepping into the big chair under those circumstances. The two games they've lost this season were close ones against good Western Conference teams, and the defensive identity that defined last year's second-half turnaround has proven it can carry over.
What better time than now for this team's first test in a game with real stakes, the Emirates NBA Cup™️?
