[FONT="]HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS[/FONT] [FONT="]“After a disappointing first half probably at both ends, I really liked the way that we defended the second half. We stuck with the things that we needed to do. I thought we were more aggressive in the second half. The unit that was in the game at the beginning of the fourth quarter – I think it was four guys off the bench plus Allen – did a really good job of getting energy, being physical, getting the crowd into the game and we were able to feed off of that. Being down 23 and coming back to get a win no matter how it happens, is pretty good.”[/FONT] [FONT="]“We weren’t doing the job defensively. It wasn’t necessarily about making adjustments, just locking in. They made a lot of perimeter jump shots in the first half. I think about 65 percent of their shots were midrange jump shots. The biggest thing was contesting them a little bit better. They were probably a little more open than they should have been, but give them credit. They were making their shots and kind of put us back a little bit. Like I said, I thought Steve Blake did a very good job in the second half of guarding the ball and keeping the ball where he wanted it to go. Joel Freeland obviously came in and did a good job defensively. He finished a couple plays, but I thought those two guys’ energy was obvious on the court in the second half.”[/FONT] [FONT="]On playing Freeland down the stretch:[/FONT] [FONT="]“I thought he played well…. He was going to play. I just like the way he was guarding Jefferson. I liked the energy he was providing and I just felt like we were best when he was on the court.”[/FONT] [FONT="]On Lillard looking for shot more than last game:[/FONT] [FONT="]“Without Nic in the game, dynamics change a little bit. Shots are going to be there. We scored 116 last game, so the offense was fine. I don’t think you can look at every game. It’s a long season. We need Dame to be aggressive and LA. To be honest, we had some shots that guys were turning down that we need them to take.”[/FONT] [FONT="]On decision to start Crabbe:[/FONT] [FONT="]One, he’s a good player. Two, I liked his length as far as his defensive ability and his length at the three. He’s worked really hard and deserved an opportunity. He’s a very good player. I felt like starting him, it’s easier playing with the starters than coming off the bench. I thought he’d be a good mix with them. [/FONT] [FONT="]DAMIAN LILLARD[/FONT] [FONT="]“They came out and shot the ball really well. We kept them on one side of the floor and we contested shots. We played physical but we got called for fouls and some of them were fouls. They made shots and we just had to stay with it. We kept telling ourselves that eventually it would come back around in our favor and it did.”[/FONT] [FONT="]On staying with game down 23:[/FONT] [FONT="]“Because it was early and that’s not what we do. I think we’ve been in that situation before with it in the fourth quarter and we still tried to fight and give ourselves a chance. Tonight was just a matter of us understanding that hey, they’re making shots, we’re not making [/FONT]
[FONT="]HEAD COACH STEVE CLIFFORD[/FONT] [FONT="]On the game:[/FONT] [FONT="]“We had some good defensive possessions. They’re very, very good. The guys did a good job executing offensively. We got to get rebounds. You got to get stops, you got to block out, you got to get the rebounds. If we did, we would have had a better chance to win that game.”[/FONT] [FONT="] [/FONT] [FONT="] [/FONT] [FONT="] [/FONT] [FONT="]AL JEFFERSON[/FONT] [FONT="] [/FONT] [FONT="]On what changed on their offense as the game went on:[/FONT] [FONT="]“Just like in that late play, we just couldn’t finish. We got our shots but just couldn’t finish plays.”[/FONT] [FONT="] [/FONT] [FONT="]On what happened in the fourth quarter:[/FONT] [FONT="]“Offensive rebounds, they just kept getting them and they do a good job at that. As a team they got a lot of second chance points. We couldn’t have asked for much more, we put ourselves in a position to win at the end of the game but we just got to make good plays on both ends of the floor.”[/FONT] [FONT="] [/FONT] [FONT="] [/FONT] [FONT="] [/FONT] [FONT="]LANCE STEVENSON[/FONT] [FONT="] [/FONT] [FONT="]On what went wrong down the stretch:[/FONT] [FONT="]“We didn’t rebound and they got a lot of offensive rebounds and points off that. That’s about it, they got their offensive rebounds and that gave them second chance shots.”[/FONT] [FONT="] [/FONT] [FONT="]On what went well for him in the first few quarters:[/FONT] [FONT="]“I just got confident on offense, I’ve been working on my jump shot and trying to be consistent every game by bringing myself to the table for my team. I just try my best to be aggressive and win games.”[/FONT]
[FONT="]• [/FONT][FONT="]Trail Blazers forward Nicolas Batum (right knee contusion) was inactive tonight. Including the postseason,Batum had played and started 100 consecutive games for Portland.[/FONT] [FONT="]• In [/FONT][FONT="]place of Nicolas Batum,Allen Crabbe made his first career NBA start.[/FONT] [FONT="]• [/FONT][FONT="]Steve Blake [/FONT][FONT="]connected on a 3-pointer with 3:03 left to give Portland its first lead of the game at 97-96. Charlotte never led again.[/FONT] [FONT="]• [/FONT][FONT="]With the 102-100 win over Charlotte,the Trail Blazers have now won nine of the past 11contests against the Hornets,including seven consecutive games at home. That seven-game home winning streak against Charlotte is currently Portland's longest active winning streak at home against any NBA team.[/FONT] [FONT="]• [/FONT][FONT="]Portland's 23-point comeback victory resembles its largest of the season.[/FONT] [FONT="]• [/FONT][FONT="]The Trail Blazers are now 5-1when scoring 100-plus points.[/FONT] [FONT="]• In [/FONT][FONT="]beating Charlotte,Portland notched its fifth win at home this season. That is tied with Toronto for most home wins in the NBA.[/FONT] [FONT="]• [/FONT][FONT="]Portland outscored Charlotte 51-38 in the second half.[/FONT] [FONT="]• [/FONT][FONT="]Trailing 62-40 with 2:03 remaining in the second quarter, the Trail Blazers ended the half on an 11-2 run to cut the deficit to 13.[/FONT] [FONT="]• [/FONT][FONT="]After starting out shooting 0-of-7 from beyond the arc and shooting just 25°/o from three in the first half,Portland made eight of its final 17 3-pointers.[/FONT] [FONT="]• [/FONT][FONT="]One game after scoring 11points on a season-low nine field goals attempts,Da* mian Lillard scored 29 points,the highest point total from any Trail Blazer this season. He shot 57.1°/o from the floor (12-21FG) and dished out seven assists.[/FONT] [FONT="]• [/FONT][FONT="]LaMarcus Aldridge [/FONT][FONT="]finished the game with 25 points and 14 rebounds,record* ing his team-best third double-double of the season. Adridge has now scored 20 or more points in seven of eight games this season.[/FONT] [FONT="]• [/FONT][FONT="]LaMarcus Aldridge [/FONT][FONT="]is just the fifth NBA player to record at least 25 points and[/FONT] [FONT="]14 rebounds in a game this season (Chris Bosh,DeMarcus Cousins,Anthony Davis, Dwight Howard).[/FONT] [FONT="]• [/FONT][FONT="]Chris Kaman [/FONT][FONT="]came off the bench to score 12 points (6-10 FG) for Portland, marking the fifth time this season that Kaman has scored 12 points off the bench.[/FONT] [FONT="]• [/FONT][FONT="]Wesley Matthews [/FONT][FONT="]dished out seven assists,tying his season-high from 2013-[/FONT][FONT="]14.[/FONT] [FONT="]• [/FONT][FONT="]Portland had 25 assists compared to Charlotte's 16,marking the seventh time in eight games this season that the Trail Blazers have had more assists than their op* ponents. Portland has totaled at least 20 assists in every game this season.[/FONT] [FONT="]• [/FONT][FONT="]The first quarter marked Portland's worst of the season in terms of points allowed[/FONT] [FONT="](35) and margin (-14).[/FONT]
shoulda asked dame wtf he was thinking shooting with the lead with a few seconds left. he wouldn't tell us the truth, but i just want to hear what he says.
Haha. Very subtle. Now that's a savvy vet talking, and getting his message out without getting fined. LOL
He was probably worried about getting the ball stripped and turning it over. The Hornets were all over him and the refs weren't calling the foul, so once he got some space he left his feet he had no where to go with the ball so he threw it at the rim. Not an ideal play, but after what happened in the Golden State game, there was probably a sense that he couldn't rely on the refs to save him at that point.
