Breaking news: Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups has been arrested in a federal gambling probe. This story was set to publish before news of the arrest.
Since Chauncey Billups arrived at the first day of training camp wearing a Portland Trail Blazers shirt with the words “Make ‘Em Uncomfortable” scribbled across the back, he has urged his team to adopt that mantra.
And for three-and-a-half quarters in their season-opening matchup against a team that has reached the Western Conference finals each of the last two years, the Blazers did just that.
Portland pushed the Minnesota Timberwolves to the brink of defeat in a fast-paced, hustle-infused, entertaining slugfest Wednesday night at the Moda Center. But in the end, the battle-tested Timberwolves made more timely plays down the stretch, hit more clutch shots in crunch time and stole a win, edging the Blazers 118-114 before a sellout crowd of 19,335.
With incoming new owner Tom Dundon watching from the front row, a season filled with great optimism opened with a harsh defeat. But lurking behind the costly fourth-quarter turnovers, key late-game misses and hard-to-swallow final few minutes was a wealth of positives for a team creeping out of a multiyear rebuild and still learning how to win.
It was, in many ways, a Jekyll and Hyde debut, in which the Blazers played well, offered hope, but didn’t have enough to defeat one of the best teams in the Western Conference.
Here are three things we learned on opening night:
THIS TEAM IS GOING TO BE FUN
The Blazers entered the season promising to answer Billups’ call to make opponents uncomfortable and they backed it up.
They hounded and harassed and hustled on defense. They applied relentless full-court pressure. They pushed the pace. They played ridiculously hard and ridiculously fast.
Along the way, it became clear: This team is going to be fun to watch.
“Who doesn’t want to watch their players play their hardest basketball?” Matisse Thybulle said. “We’re picking up full-court every possession. We’re pushing the ball in transition every possession we can. And it feels like, as a fan, you’re getting every dollar’s worth of your tickets, because of the effort that’s being given. There’s always criticism of guys not playing hard and all this stuff, and I just don’t think anyone’s ever going to be able to say that about the Trail Blazers.”
They certainly couldn’t say it Wednesday night.
Jerami Grant put on an offensive show, erupting for 29 points in his new role off the bench. Deni Avdija lived up to his turbo reputation, recording 20 points and seven rebounds as he meep meeped his way around the court. Toumani Camara produced 10 points, nine rebounds and five assists, while playing harassing defense. Donovan Clingan (eight points, six rebounds, two steals, one block) made his presence felt in a game that featured a surplus of small lineups.
And more than anything, Thybulle, Blake Wesley, Jrue Holiday, Camara, Clingan and seemingly anyone who stepped on the court with a Blazers jersey applied unyielding defensive pressure, swarming ballhandlers, poking away steals, chasing runners off screens and generally wreaking havoc.
If you just scanned the box score and saw the 118 points and 49% shooting from the field (50% from long-range), you’d think the Blazers were a defensive pushover.
You’d be wrong.
“That’s the best feeling when you feel your whole team being connected,” Camara said of the Blazers’ defense. “Everybody’s on the same page, especially on the defensive side. I think it’s a thing that not a lot of teams take a lot of pride in. So being able to do that and help all the guys on the court, being able to show that commitment towards defense, I think is huge. And it brings energy to offense. It brings transition more. It brings more connection within everybody.”
It also brings fun.
There hasn’t been a lot of it in recent years, not as the Blazers were chasing lottery ping pong balls and lopsided losses became the norm. That 62-point defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder last January? That 60-point eyesore to the Miami Heat last March? That shudder-inducing 56-point spanking against the Golden State Warriors in April 2023?
The lowest of lows are a thing of the past. The Blazers attempted 90 field goals, including 42 threes, and shot 35 free throws Wednesday, as their Energizer Bunny-pace kept going and going, giving them a chance against the red-hot Timberwolves and sharpshooter Anthony Edwards, who finished with 41 points.
So while it might be tempting to leave frustrated about the defeat, it would be wise to leave encouraged by the product and potential.
“I think it’s more about us and the things we can be excited about,” said Holiday, who finished with 14 points, seven assists, six rebounds and three steals. “We played well for three-and-a-half quarters. I think that (our play) down the stretch is just something we’re going to have to figure out about. Controlling the pace, controlling the game a little bit more. But I think for most of the game, we had control of the game. So I’m really excited about how we play, how we play together. It’s really fun to be out there. The rotations and the guys that we have, we all kind of know our role and what we’re supposed to do. It was a fun game even though we lost.”
A TASTE OF WHAT’S TO COME?
Amid all the fun, however, there was also a sobering dose of reality for those predicting a Portland playoff berth. It won’t come easy.
In fact, Las Vegas oddsmakers — who have set the Blazers’ over-under at 33.5 to 34.5 wins— believe it won’t come at all. So there very well might be more nights like the one we saw Wednesday. Nights when the Blazers play well, show promise and push elite teams to the brink, only to lose in the end.
And that’s OK.
The Western Conference is deep. Silly deep. So deep, Billups said it might be “as good as I’ve ever seen it.” So as the Blazers take the next step in their multiyear rebuild, as they creep away from the worst and showcase the potential of their best, a win might not always accompany the progress. The Thunder, Warriors, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, LA Clippers and, yes, Timberwolves are chasing bigger ambitions than a simple playoff berth.
“We’re going to be playing against some powerhouses from the very beginning,” Billups said. “Teams with actually championship aspirations and goals. And they are actually contenders. So we’ve got to be realistic about it, as well, and know that I want us to get better and keep taking steps. And we will. But, like, we’re not a championship team right now. I don’t want us to get crazy here. We’ve got to be honest with it.”
So, yeah, the Blazers appear to be fun. They play an entertaining brand of basketball. They will almost certainly be better than last season.
But there will be more hiccups the rest of the way, more fourth-quarter collapses and more close-but-not-quite finishes. It’s merely part of the next step.
Portland Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant drives on Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle during an NBA game at Moda Center on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.Sean Meagher/The Oregonian
GRANT DELIVERS OFF THE BENCH
It took one night to ease any worry about how Grant might perform in his new role off the bench. The Blazers’ veteran wing was perhaps the best and most reliable player against the Timberwolves.
He started hot, scoring 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting in his first 12 minutes, and didn’t let up the rest of the night. By game’s end, Grant had scored 29 points, while making 10 of 14 shots, including 4 of 7 three-pointers.
Afterward, he acknowledged that it might take a while to grow accustomed to his new role — he’s coming off the bench for the first time since playing in the NBA bubble in 2020 — but dismissed any notion he’s stewing about losing his starting job to Shaedon Sharpe.
“I’m just trying to play basketball, to be honest,” Grant said. “Whatever it is, I’m going to accept it.
“Like I said, I’m a basketball player. Wherever I’m at, I’m going to do what I’ve got to do.”
Billups has repeatedly said that he believes he has seven starters on his roster — Holiday, Sharpe, Avdija, Camara, Clingan, Grant and Scoot Henderson — and he has urged his players to avoid letting status or ego affect their approach. Grant, evidently, is following his coach’s advice.
“I don’t become a worse player because I’m coming off the bench,” he said.
Indeed. On a night the Blazers struggled from the field, he was their most consistent offensive threat. He had 16 points at halftime, when the Blazers led 61-57. He went 3 for 3 from the field in the third quarter. And he hit a clutch three in the fourth to momentarily quell Minnesota’s momentum and give the Blazers a 103-95 lead. His only noticeable blemish came down the stretch, when he missed a three in the final minute.
“He’s a professional,” Holiday said of Grant. “He’s a professional and he wants to win. And I think he showed that. It’s not necessarily about starting. He’s in the game and he’s playing a lot of minutes and he’s doing a lot of things. He’s in the game at the end of the game and we rely on him. So I think a lot of people put that title on someone about being a starter and how important it is to be a starter. But you’ve seen a lot of great players not start and contribute to a great team. So, he’s obviously a starter, you know what I’m saying? But Jeremy is just doing what Jeremy does.”
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