[FONT="]HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS[/FONT] [FONT="]“Needless to say, it was good to get a win, but more importantly it was how we got it, how we played. That looked like the team that we need to be. We withstood their barrage in the first quarter, stayed with our schemes and our coverages, and the next three and a half quarters, we did a great job defensively. We stuck with the defense and we got rhythm to the offense. It was a solid win at both ends of the court.”[/FONT] [FONT="]“That’s how we’re capable of playing. I think everybody knows that and it was good to have that, to beat a team as good as Cleveland. To do it against a team like Cleveland, adds a little bit to it. Just kind of getting out of – I don’t necessarily want to call it a funk, but we were playing at the level that we knew we could. It’s good to get back on track.”[/FONT] [FONT="]On Lillard’s game:[/FONT] [FONT="]“He was terrific on both ends of the court. I thought he took the challenge defensively whoever he was guarding, whether it was Waiters or Irving. Offensively, he looked very determined to make the right plays. He did a little bit of everything. He got to the line, made his shots, made good passing decisions, pushed the ball, so now you don’t have to ask ‘What’s wrong with Damian?’ anymore.”[/FONT] [FONT="]What did you like defensively?[/FONT] [FONT="]“Probably the consistency of it. Up and down the line, individual jobs on their scorers, the communication in our defensive schemes. For the most part, we rebounded the ball well. Our help and alertness to penetration. They didn’t get a lot of attacks in the paint. Our transition defense – they didn’t really get too many easy baskets. When you hold a team like Cleveland to under 20 for three quarters, you’re doing a lot of good things.”[/FONT] [FONT="]On defending James:[/FONT] [FONT="]“Wes really was physical with him. But you have to give the big guys credit. I think Nic and Wes both did the job that we expect them to do, but with the pick and rolls and when he’s going to the rim, LaMarcus and Robin and Chris were all making it difficult to finish at the rim. With great players, it’s individual and a team thing.”[/FONT] [FONT="]“We all know that he can make those jump shots. Those opportunities were there and he made them. He was really in a good rhythm. We purposely went to him a couple times, but most of the time it was just in the flow of the offense.”[/FONT] [FONT="]WESLEY MATTHEWS[/FONT] [FONT="]On defending James:[/FONT] [FONT="]Just make everything difficult. He’s arguably the best player in the game and he’ll go down as one of the greatest to ever play, so just try to make everything difficult and tough for him.”[/FONT] [FONT="]What goes into that?[/FONT] [FONT="]“Contesting his catches, contesting his passes. Don’t give him free runs, free cuts. Just make him feel you; He’s aggressive. Try not to get an easy rhythm. A guy like that, he can go off if he gets some kind of rhythm.”[/FONT] [FONT="]On Cavs starting game 10 for 10 from field:[/FONT] [FONT="]“We got them taking the shots, for the most part, that we wanted them to take. It wasn’t like transition. It wasn’t like they were lobs and dunks. It wasn’t like they were backdoor cuts or anything like that. They scored on some post ups. I think we blew maybe two coverages on the pick and roll, but other than that, I think we did a good job defensively. They were just making shots, but it all balanced out in the end.”[/FONT] [FONT="]ROBIN LOPEZ[/FONT] [FONT="]“I thought we did a very good job on both ends of the floor. We were very attentive on defense toward people’s tendencies. On offense, we did a good job of finding the open man.”[/FONT] [FONT="]Was this an important win?[/FONT] [FONT="]“I mean, yeah. You want to get one to get going. It can be an important win for us if we continue to play well.”[/FONT] [FONT="]On offense (personally):[/FONT] [FONT="]“When you’re playing with as many talented scorers as I am, it’s going to give you a lot of opportunities on the offensive end. The defense can’t really cheat off of them or help off of them too much, so it’s my job to try to put the ball in the bucket.”[/FONT] [FONT="]On defense sparking offense:[/FONT] [FONT="]“When you’re not taking the ball out of the basket, it’s easier to get out and kind of flowing offense and fast break. That’s tough on the defense. That’s tough on the other team.”[/FONT]
[FONT="]HEAD COACH David Blatt[/FONT] [FONT="]On poor offense:[/FONT] [FONT="]"I just don’t think we brought it tonight to be honest. I don’t think we brought intensity, I don’t think we brought any type of mindset to defend and I think that caught up with us cause the ball’s not always going to go in. If you don’t play your opponent tough, especially a tough opponent, sooner or later percentages are going to catch up with you and that’s what happened. "[/FONT] [FONT="]On Lebron James aggressiveness: [/FONT] [FONT="]"I thought he was aggressive early on, later less so. And again, I don’t think we need to depend on him by himself to do those things, I think we need to help him. I didn’t think we did that tonight. ”[/FONT] [FONT="]On team’s effort following three off days:[/FONT] [FONT="]"I knew coming out here was going to be a tough game, it always is it seems for this team. I knew we had to bring the kind of energy and intensity to play defense in this building, and we did not do that. No, I didn’t see that coming, no.“[/FONT] [FONT="]Lebron James[/FONT][FONT="] [/FONT] [FONT="]On : coming all the way back after getting the game under double digits:[/FONT] [FONT="]"If we did thing correctly. We just had too many mistakes. We’re a team that’s coming together for the first time and we can’t have that many mistakes, we’ve got to clean those up."[/FONT] [FONT="]On how long the team building process will take:[/FONT] [FONT="]"Hopefully not too long, but it could go on for a couple months until we’re all on the same page and know exactly what we’re doing both offensively and defensively and what it takes to win. This is a team game and you have to rely on your teammates as well and we’ll get and understanding of that as time goes on. "[/FONT] [FONT="]On breaking old habits from previous Cleveland teams:[/FONT] [FONT="]"It’s going to be a challenge, but I think I can do it, I think we can do it, I think I can get help doing it with the help of Mike Miller and James Jones and Brendan Haywood, guys that have won championships can help. A lot of bad habits have been built up over the last couple of years and when you play that style of basketball, it takes a lot to get it out of you, but I’m her to help and that’s what it’s about. [/FONT]
[FONT="]P[/FONT][FONT="]o[/FONT][FONT="]r[/FONT][FONT="]t[/FONT][FONT="]l[/FONT][FONT="]a[/FONT][FONT="]n[/FONT][FONT="]d[/FONT][FONT="]’[/FONT][FONT="]s 101-82 victory over Cleveland was its seventh victory in the last eight games against the Cavaliers. The Trail Blazers are now 1-0 against Eastern Conference opponents after finishing last year with a 23-7 record against the east.[/FONT] [FONT="]P[/FONT][FONT="]o[/FONT][FONT="]r[/FONT][FONT="]t[/FONT][FONT="]l[/FONT][FONT="]a[/FONT][FONT="]n[/FONT][FONT="]d[/FONT][FONT="]’[/FONT][FONT="]s defense limited LeBron James to 11 points (4-12 FG), his lowest regular season point total since Dec. 5, 2008. It was LeBron’s 575th straight double-digit scoring game in the regular season.[/FONT] [FONT="]C[/FONT][FONT="]leveland scored just 13 points in the fourth quarter on 5-of-21 shooting. No Cavaliers player made more than one field goal. It was Portland’s second lowest margin allowed in a quarter, having held Oklahoma City to 12 points in the fourth quarter on Oct. 29.[/FONT] [FONT="]A[/FONT][FONT="]fter making their first 10 shots of the game (5-5 3-PT), Cleveland shot just 21-of-75 the rest of the game (28.0%).[/FONT] [FONT="]D[/FONT][FONT="]a[/FONT][FONT="]mian Lillard scored a season-high 27 points (6-13 FG, 5-10 3-PT, 10-10 FT) in 36 minutes. Lillard’s[/FONT] [FONT="]10-for-10 performance from the free throw line ties his career mark for the most free throws made in a[/FONT] [FONT="]single game without a miss. (Dec. 2, 2013 vs. Indiana)[/FONT] [FONT="]P[/FONT][FONT="]o[/FONT][FONT="]r[/FONT][FONT="]t[/FONT][FONT="]l[/FONT][FONT="]a[/FONT][FONT="]n[/FONT][FONT="]d[/FONT][FONT="]’[/FONT][FONT="]s starting five shot a combined 32-of-59 from the field (58.1%). Nicolas Batum (3-6), Robin[/FONT] [FONT="]L[/FONT][FONT="]o[/FONT][FONT="]p[/FONT][FONT="]e[/FONT][FONT="]z (8-11) and Wesley Matthews (8-14) all shot over 50% from the floor.[/FONT] [FONT="]T[/FONT][FONT="]railing 27-20 with 4:54 remaining in the first quarter, the Trail Blazers went on a 9-0 run over the next[/FONT] [FONT="]2:11 to take a 29-27 lead.[/FONT] [FONT="]L[/FONT][FONT="]aMarcus Aldridge is now 13-3 in 16 career matchups against Kevin Love.[/FONT] [FONT="]The Trail Blazers scored 55 points in the first half, their highest point total at halftime this season.[/FONT] [FONT="]Ro[/FONT][FONT="]b[/FONT][FONT="]in Lopez scored 19 points, his second-highest total in two seasons with the Trail Blazers. He also swiped a career-high 3 steals in 29 minutes.[/FONT] [FONT="]C[/FONT][FONT="]hris Kaman is the first Trail Blazers player with four straight games of 6+ rebounds off the bench since[/FONT] [FONT="]M[/FONT][FONT="]a[/FONT][FONT="]r[/FONT][FONT="]c[/FONT][FONT="]u[/FONT][FONT="]s Camby (4, March 20-28, 2011).[/FONT] [FONT="]Thomas Robinson hauled in a season-high eight rebounds in 11 minutes.[/FONT] [FONT="]The Trail Blazers shot 50% (29-0f-58) from the field through the first three quarters and led 76-69.[/FONT] [FONT="]L[/FONT][FONT="]a[/FONT][FONT="]k[/FONT][FONT="]e Oswego, Ore. native Kevin Love scored 22 points (7-14 FG) and made five of his eight three-point attempts in 36 minutes. Love has scored 20-plus points in six of his last seven games in Portland.[/FONT]
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