HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS “We played well enough to win the game. Certainly, we did a lot of good things to build a 19 point lead, but disappointing to have a team come back. Brooklyn has a lot of good players. Brook Lopez had a terrific night, Joe Johnson is capable of getting it going and they kept the pressure on us, they pushed the tempo. They did a lot of good things to get back into the game. Some of that was them, some of that was us. I liked the way we finished. IT was good we kept our composure to win a game and put it in the W column.” What was key to closing it out? “The game got intense, they took the lead. You could just tell that there was a little more urgency at the defensive end. Obviously we made some baskets, I thought Mason made a couple good passes, our three man game was working between him and Dame and CJ. Obviously the two threes widened the gap. Probably offensively there was some trust there that we would make a play for one another and ultimately I thought that made the difference at the end.” Don’t you feel like this was a night CJ and Damian carried you? “Well offensively, no question they carried us. The first half, we had 15 assists in the first half. The ball was moving. Dame and CJ carried us at the end and certainly you look at the box score and they had 68 between them, but I thought we did a lot of good things offensively in the first half with 15 assists and screening and ball movement. When we screen and when we pass, we’re pretty effective. But 68 points from your backcourt, that goes a long way.”
DAMIAN LILLARD What does it say about this team to take care of business in a win like this? “I think once again it says that we’ve grown, that we’ve become a better team. We controlled the game through three quarters, and then at the end of the third the last couple minutes, we had a 14 point lead and then took the lead by like three I guess. We showed some fight. We didn’t panic and let the game completely slip away like we’d done in games in the past. The fourth quarter, our defense was as good as it had been that entire game. It’s just good to know we can hang our hat on that and win games.” Was there a cautionary tale in this game? “I mean, we got it done. It’s been the credit going to the same thing – us trusting and sticking with what we’ve done over this stretch. It showed through once again, it’s that simple.” Down 3 with 6 minutes left did you feel like you needed to take over offensively? “Yeah, at that point you’ve just got to go win the game. We made our mistake, they made theirs, they made a push and they took the lead, and at that point, everything else is out the window. Players have got to play. CJ stepped up big. Mase did a great job on the block and even when Brook did score, he had a hard time, it was physical and he had to work for it. Same thing with Joe Johnson when Chief was on him. Then they had to work on offense, we came down and we pushed it at them and we were aggressive, so at that point in the game, players gotta go win it and players gotta play and we did that.” On becoming second Blazer “I mean, it’s another great accomplishment. Like I’ve said before, I’m going to do whatever I can to help this team win games and continue to win games. Tonight once again it was necessary.” On McCollum’s performance: “He was fun to watch. A lot of times, I’d kick him the ball ahead and I’d go to the opposite wing and I’d catch myself watching him sometimes, the stuff that he can do, how crafty he is with the ball, the tough shots that he can knock down. I think the best part for me is that stretch at the end of the game, I didnt feel like I had to keep the ball. A couple possessions where the game was tied, he hit a big three, we were down two, he hit a pull-up, tie game he hit another pull-up. So it’s comforting for me to know that I can pitch ahead to CJ and be on the weak side and if he gets trapped, they can swing it to me, but I’ve got a lot of confidence in him having the ball.”
HEAD COACH TONY BROWN On how to beat Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum down the stretch: “Keep scoring. When they score, we have to come back down and score. We had opportunities. We got some stops on them. I think Brook may have had a steal—we got a charge on the fast break. Some of our shot selection down the stretch probably cost us a little bit, but that’s nitpicking. I’m not going to go crazy over that. I like that we played extremely hard the second half, got ourselves back in the ball game. It gave us a chance to win.” On Brook’s level of play: “He sees that we need him. The ball’s flying at him in some of our sets, our transition, where ever. He’s getting his touches and he’s been aggressive, attacking the rim. He’s not settling for jump shots even though we know he can shoot the ball from distance. He’s playing like a big guy, he’s in the paint, he’s causing trouble, and that’s what you see in most of his games.” On Brook’s aggressiveness: “I think it’s him. It’s nothing that I said to him that’s made him aggressive. I just think he has the mindset that he’s going to be a lot more aggressive during the second half of the season and I think we’re seeing the benefits of that.” On playing a full game with full intensity: “I think every game should be like that. If I got to tell them to play that way then something is wrong. We should always play with some kind of intensity out there, especially on the defensive end of the floor. When we do, we’re a lot better basketball team, but I don’t know what buttons to push to do that.”
BROOK LOPEZ On how they got back into the game after being down by 19 in the 3rd quarter: “We just had a lot more energy. We made a great push and it was team wide. We knuckled down, got stops, boarded the ball well and then got out and played transition. Played a lot to our strengths and shared the ball.” On why he’s been playing so well lately: “We just share the ball so well and move so well that we really find a groove out there. I think we came out a bit relaxed, and I don’t know if we were sluggish due to our travel time or what it was, but there’s no excuses there. We definitely came out in the 2nd half with the way we need to every game and despite the loss I think we set a good tone for the rest of this road trip.” On why he plays so well in Portland: “It’s just a fun environment to play in. They draw great crowds night in and night out regardless of how the team is. The energy is so high and live in here, it’s just such a fun environment to play in.”
Postgame Notes - Feb. 23, 2016 Portland 112, Brooklyn 104 Game #57 • Home Game #30 • The Trail Blazers have won a season-high six consecutive games and own the longest active winning streak in the NBA. • Portland improves to 15-3 in its past 18 contests and is now three games above .500 for the first time this season. • The Trail Blazers are 11-2 in their past 13 home games (19-11 overall). • Since Jan. 23, the Trail Blazers own the best record in the NBA at 11-1 (Golden State 10-1, four teams at 9-3). • Portland has won 17 consecutive games when leading at halftime. • Damian Lillard scored 34 points, making him the first Trail Blazer to score at least 30 points in five consecutive games since Geoff Petrie did so in Portland’s inaugural season (Dec. 26, 1970 to Jan. 4, 1971). • Damian Lillard is the only NBA player this season to score at least 30 points in five consecutive games. No other NBA player has averaged more points in his past five games than Lillard (35.8 ppg). • With two three-point field goals, Damian Lillard (752 3-PT FG) surpassed Nicolas Batum for third on Portland’s all-time three-point list (751 3-PT FG). • With 34 points tonight, Damian Lillard (6,234 pts) surpassed Zach Randolph for 14th place on Portland’s all-time scoring list (6,202). • CJ McCollum finished with 34 points, marking the fifth time this season that he has scored at least 20 points in three consecutive games (season-high: 4). • CJ McCollum has scored at least 30 points in back-to-back games for the first time in his NBA career (31, 2/21/16 vs. Utah). • CJ McCollum (5-7 3-PT) has now made at least three three-pointers in each of his past three games (12-17 3-PT). • Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum are the second Trail Blazer teammates to each score at least 30 points in back-to-back games in franchise history (Petrie/Wicks Jan. 20, Jan. 26 1973). • With 10 points tonight, Al-Farouq Aminu (576 points) has set a new personal career-high for scoring in a single season (572, 2013-14). • Portland’s bench outscored Brooklyn’s reserves by three points (26-23), marking the 15th time in the past 19 games that Portland’s bench has outscored the opposing reserves (+145 points). The Trail Blazers are 21-12 this season when accomplishing that feat (18-5 since Dec. 3). • Brook Lopez finished with a season-high 36 points, his highest scoring total in 12 career games against the Trail Blazers (32 pts, three times).
Damian Lillard/C.J. McCollum: 1st starting guard teammates to each score 30 in B2B gms since George Gervin/James Silas in 1980.
Also, lillard looks kind of fat in this photo. He might want to watch that. Also , are those flames safe? Neil shouldn't allow Lillard's agent to have dame pose that closely to flames. Just ridiculous.
It's not said enough, but these post game quotes are awesome Sly. Thanks much for doing this. I'm grateful someone does this as I don't live in Portland anymore and I rarely get to hear any post game when NBA League Pass cuts off after the buzzer sounds. I also don't click on O-Live at all.
Nailed it. Flammable and fat. Like Raymond Felto after a doughnut binge. Like Tyler Lawson next to a grease fire.
If you would have told me at the beginning of the year that there would be a month long stretch in which the Blazers would have the best record in the NBA I would have punched you in the nuts.
