Heat and Blazers victories on a day marked by betting scandal

The illegal gambling scandal didn't slow down the Miami Heat and the Portland Trail Blazers inside the courts, both with wins in their first games after the controversy erupted, while the Los Angeles Lakers added their first win of the season with a stellar Luka Doncic.

Those are the top results of the day for the NBA, a league in turmoil following an FBI sting Thursday that ended in the arrests of Heat player Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups, coach for the Blazers.

Rozier support

The Heat opened their season win streak with a 146-114 thrashing of the Memphis Grizzlies, according to AFP. Center Bam Adebayo was the top scorer with 24 points and Mexican-American Jaime Jaquez Jr. had 17 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.

Playing as a visitor, Miami broke its record for scoring in a first half with 86 points.

Throughout the day, roster figures expressed their support for Rozier, his teammate since January 2024, who is suspended indefinitely by the NBA for the duration of the investigation.

"We stand behind him. Full support. That's our brother at the end of the day," stressed Adebayo, the team's leader.

Rozier, 31, is accused of participating in a sports betting scheme that prosecutors say provided insider information about injuries and losses in games played between December 2022 and March 2024.

He is also accused of manipulating his participation in a 2023 game, when he played for the Charlotte Hornets, by withdrawing early citing an injury.

Brazilian Splitter's debut

Much more unexpected was the victory of the Portland Trail Blazers by a resounding 139-119 against the Golden State Warriors of Stephen Curry, who reached 35 points.

Tiago Splitter became the first Brazilian to coach in an NBA game in place of Billups, also suspended by the NBA. The former Spurs player, who took the reins of the bench on an interim basis, also commented on the situation of Billups, for whom he was an assistant.

"We all had great experiences with Chauncey and how he coached," Splitter said. "We're thinking of him and his family but we have a job to do."

Billups, a former Detroit Pistons star and Hall of Famer as a player, was arrested for his alleged involvement in illegal rigged poker games that prosecutors say were linked to mafia families.

Lakers get revenge on Wolves

In Los Angeles, the Lakers took a little revenge on the Minnesota Timberwolves by beating them 128-110 with a Luka Doncic recital.

The Slovenian reached 49 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists again demonstrating his leadership of the glamorous Los Angeles franchise.

Doncic, who had already scored 43 points in Tuesday's loss to the Warriors, has taken the helm of the team in the face of the absence of LeBron James in the first few weeks due to sciatica.

No NBA player had ever started an NBA season with two straight games with at least 40 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, and only seven Lakers starters had strung together games with 40 or more points.

The Lakers shook off some pressure with this win against Anthony Edwards' Timberwolves (31 points), their tormentors in the first round of the last playoffs.