LOS ANGELES — This was a win any coach would be proud of.

Monday, on the second night of a back-to-back, Portland interim coach Tiago Splitter rolled out waves of young, long, athletic defenders — Toumani Camara, Blake Wesley, Kris Murphy, plus the veteran Jrue Holiday — who got in the jersey of Austin Reaves and pressed the shorthanded Lakers for 94 feet, making life difficult for anyone with the ball in his hands. The result was a 122-108 Trail Blazers win over the Lakers, their first road win of the young season.

Splitter was proud of the effort, but this was not the chair he expected to be in after a big win, sitting in front of the media and answering questions about the growth of a young roster. One year ago, he had been the head coach of Paris Basketball — leading the team to its

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