On Apr. 28 the Portland Trail Blazers were eliminated from the NBA Playoffs by the San Antonio Spurs after a five game series, which ended after San Antonio won game five 114-94. While the season ended with disappointment for the fans, the season was anything but disappointing for the team.
The Blazers season seemed doomed from the start when the team’s head coach Chauncey Billups was arrested on Oct. 23, 2025, one day after the Blazers played their season opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The arrest of Billups led to Blazers assistant head coach Tiago Splitter to be thrust into the position of head coach, a position he had never held at such a high level.
The Blazers were mediocre under Splitter in the first few months, losing over 50% of their games and near the bottom of the Western Conference standings. But by the time March rolled around, the Blazers were able to become a stronger team, led by the strong play of Deni Avdija and Scoot Henderson, and the veteran leadership of Jrue Holiday and Damian Lillard, allowing the Blazers to get to above the 50% win mark and hover around it for the rest of the year.
The Blazers finished the season with a record of 42-40, which was good enough for the team to make the play-in, facing off with the Phoenix Suns. The Blazers were able to edge out the Suns, winning 114-110, led by a dominant 41 point performance by Deni Avdija. Their victory in the Play-In led to the Blazers securing the seventh seed and their first playoff berth since the 2021 NBA season.
The series started in San Antonio, with the Spurs dominating the Blazers from start to finish, taking game one 111-98. The Blazers were able to quickly even the series at one a piece, when they beat the Spurs in San Antonio 106-103. Unfortunately for the Blazers, the Spurs led by defensive player of the year Victor Wembanyama, were able to quickly finish the series winning the next three games straight, ending the Blazer’s season.
Despite the unfortunate end to the season, the Blazers have tons to look forward to as veteran guard Damian Lillard has returned to the team and should recover from the torn achilles he suffered in the 2025 playoffs, by the time the 2026-2027 season begins, they will also have a new, hopefully more experienced head coach going into next season, and the roster is very young, which has been shown to be a recipe for success in the modern NBA. With all of these factors combined, don’t be surprised if the Blazers make a deep run in next year’s playoffs.
Article by Luke Zamberlan