Blazers HC Chauncey Billups Blasts 'Embarrassing' Effort in Blowout Loss to Grizzlies

Billups was heavily critical of his team's effort.

Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

The Portland Trail Blazers are aware that they are in the midst of a rebuilding season, but that doesn't mean head coach Chauncey Billups is okay with watching his team get blown out. The Trail Blazers were dismantled by the Memphis Grizzlies 134-89 on Sunday, losing by 45 points.

Even without Ja Morant, who was out of the game because of a hip injury, the Grizzlies had their way completely with the Trail Blazers. Memphis did not necessarily see one or two players record outstanding performances, but nearly every player contributed to a team win. Only Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 20 points for the Grizzlies, but seven different players scored double-digit points and five players recorded 16 points or more.

On the Trail Blazers side, only three players scored double-digit points. Jerami Grant recorded 20 points, but no other player scored more than 13 in the game. Defensively, the Trail Blazers could not keep the Grizzlies from scoring.

Billups called out his team for their effort level after the game.

“It was just (expletive) embarrassing,” Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said, via Aaron Fentress of Oregon Live. “We were soft as hell the whole game. Nobody really fought. It was just embarrassing for everybody. That’s just not who we are. It really isn’t. No excuse for that.”

The Trail Blazers did attempt 15 more shots than the Grizzlies, but their accuracy was abysmal. Portland made just 34 of their 100 attempts from the field, 34 percent, and only four of their 42 three-point attempts, 9.5 percent. Comparatively, the Grizzlies shot 55.3 percent from the field and 37.2 percent from the three-point line.

“It was like our guys just showed up because they had to be here and didn’t want to play,” Billups said. “Didn’t want to actually work. And that’s embarrassing. It’s unfortunate that we had to go out there in front of our fans who paid their hard-earned money to come and see their favorite team play and we show up and do that.”

The Trail Blazers finished with a season-low 89 points, failing to even reach 90 points in the game. They have now lost three straight, and are just 3-8 this season.

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