HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS “I thought we had a good effort. It seemed like we were fighting from behind most of the time but we kept after it, kept finding ways to stay in the game. I thought in the fourth quarter when we took the lead, we had a lot of momentum and things might continue our way, but Atlanta is a good team. Millsap made his threes. I don’t think we expected him to go 3 for 3, that certainly hurt. He hit a couple in the fourth quarter but a big one late. There were some good moments. They did a good job of penetrating – I thought Teague and Schroeder did a nice job of penetrating and creating problems off the dribble. Turnover was going to be important going into the game, that differential was zero; fast break points was going to be important, that was zero; we outrebound them but they had more second chance points. So it was a good effort, we just didn’t have quite enough to finish it off.” What did they do to keep Lillard out of rhythm? “Nothing special, I mean they played good defense. Schroeder picked up full court, they did some trapping on pick and rolls early. I thought we did a good job of getting it out of double teams. They’re a good defensive team and their guards can get after you.” On versatility of Millsap and Horford: “They’re very versatile big men. They can hurt you inside and outside, they pass. They’re not shooting the three that well on the season. They shot it well tonight, but they’re both very good in midrange, they can put it on the floor, they’re both good passers. So they can do a lot of things at the offensive end and defensively, as a group, they play good team defense. Those two guys really anchor good team defense.”
DAMIAN LILLARD On difference late in a tight game: “At times when we needed to get stops, we couldn’t get the stops. They got a couple second chance opportunities. A couple times, we didn’t make a shot and they came down and made a shot. I was proud of the way we competed, we gave ourselves a chance down the stretch but it just wasn’t good enough.” What did they do defensively or was it an off night for you? “You have to give some credit to what they do defensively. They’re a very physical, active team. I got some looks that I think I could have knocked down, but the last couple games, I’ve been getting a lot of attention. In pick and rolls, I’ve been seeing two guys, and I think our team has done a great job of when I make that pass, the next guy making the next play and I think that’s why we were able to win in DC and why we had a chance to win tonight. Teams have just shown me a lot of attention and I’ve had some shots that I could have made that I didn’t.” Are you disappointed to start home stand with a loss? “I mean, we’ve got eight of them so we’ll have plenty of opportunity to win some games. Atlanta is a really good team. We wanted to start it off with a win tonight, it would have been a huge win and a good win for us but we didn’t put enough of a complete game together.”
HEAD COACH MIKE BUDENHOLZER On the game: “Lots of guys in the second half made plays, made shots. I think you could go all the way up and down those five guys that finished the game. I thought the bench in the first half gave us great boost. I think different times we were up 13. Dennis and Thabo, Tiago and those guys off the bench were great in the first half. Everybody really helped us get a good one on the road.” On the defensive strategy against Lillard: “We kind of wanted to put a lot of pressure on them, and try to make it difficult on them. Not give them any clean or free looks. It’s a real challenge to play that many pick and rolls and to be that aggressive. For the majority of the night, our bigs’ pick and roll defense was very good.” On Paul Millsap: “That’s impressive. That kind of efficiency to hit three threes and a big tip in there on a missed shot. He had a little bit of foul trouble again, which he’s had that the last week or two. He stuck with his game, and just kept playing. He’s very efficient, very good.” On getting the the 11-4 run in the fourth quarter: “We got a couple stops, and I think we hit some threes. At the end of the day, both teams can be very effective from the three point line. We wanted to take away their threes. I think Kent hit a corner three and then Kyle came back and hit on at the top of the key. I feel like Paul hit one in there. We were able to make some shots and I think that gave us the 11-4 run.” On if he said anything to Millsap about his three early fouls: “No. He’s a veteran guy. He’s been in a lot of games. I think he knows how to handle himself, and we gave him a little bit of an early sub again, and made sure he didn’t get the fourth one early, and then he just played the whole way through the second half.”
THABO SEFOLOSHA On Paul Millsap’s performance: “Just another great game. Doing it all out there, playing hard and being a leader.” On how the team felt in the 4th quarter: “We weren’t happy with how we played for a big part of the game, so it was just great to rally the troops in the 4th and close it out.” What separated the game in the second halve: “It’s hard to put a thing on it, but we played well, we executed well defensively and offensively.” On Dennis Schroeder’s game: “Dennis does what he does, he’s very aggressive, he’s the head of the snake for us and when he’s out there he makes things happen.” On what the feel of this game gives them going into the next three road games: “It was great to start the road trip this way, start it with a win and we’ve got to keep it going. We’ll feed off of this and keep it rolling.”
