HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS “It was a very good win for us, obviously. I thought we played really well throughout the game. The fact that we won every game speaks to that. I liked our defense. I like that we shared the ball, especially the first half having 15 assists. I thought we found the weak side. Dame set the tone early with his assists and passing. On top of that, I thought we missed a lot of shots we could have made from three. It was a very good game. They may have been a little bit fatigued from their double overtime game, but nonetheless, it was a good win for us.” On Leonard’s defense on Cousins “He was very good on Cousins. He banged with him, he took the challenge. It was very similar to when he guarded him in Sacramento. The fact that he met him early and took the challenge – that was keeping him in the game, it opened up the court at the offensive end and we held our own defensively when he was there.” Is it fair to say if he plays like that defensively, he will see more time? “It depends on the game. He played 24 minutes – can I say he’s going to play more than that? I don’t know because Mason played very well, Ed played very well, Noah played very well. I thought all our front line guys played well with their minutes. On scoring balance? “You like that, you can’t always count on that but when that happens, it makes you a little bit more difficult to guard. I thought Damian and CJ certainly set up a lot of the scoring opportunities for those other guys. You look at Damian’s assists, 13 assists, those guys are scoring I think a lot because of how we were playing as a team, and that’s a good thing.”
MEYERS LEONARD On playing in the post against Cousins: “It was good. Like I mentioned after the game, I give credit when it’s due. He’s a very good player, able to score in many ways – down on the block, on the perimeter, etcetera. But I thought for the most part, I did a good job on him and the rest of the guys did a good job on him – the guards digging, double team schemes a couple times, so we were really locked in to what we needed to do tonight and it was just a great team effort.” Do you enjoy going toe to toe with Cousins? “Absolutely. It’s a challenge. I guess I can compare it to something like the Playoffs last year against Gasol, similar, physical. I just try to do whatever I can to keep him away from the rim and help the team however I can, so it was definitely a fun matchup tonight.” On win and moving into 8th in standings “It’s a huge win tonight. You talk about protecting home court number one, but I believe we’re in the eighth spot now and looking up. I saw a quote from Coach Stotts maybe a couple nights ago that the thing is we haven’t scratched the surface. I truly believe that. We have a lot of young guys, some older guys – Ed, Chris, Gerald and I feel like we have really good pieces and guys that like each other, willing to come every day and work and come out and execute like we did tonight. So we’re definitely looking up, we have to focus on the next game, the next practice and not get too high on ourselves. Tonight feels good, now we have to move forward.” On scoring balance tonight “That’s huge, sharing the ball, trusting the next guy and just listening to what Coach Stotts has to say and understand. We watch film and go through practices and then to put in into play and have success during games is big. It’s crucial for us to have experiences and moments in games where something works or even if something doesn’t work, move on from there and figure out what you can do better next time.”
HEAD COACH GEORGE KARL On if fatigue played a part in DeMarcus Cousins’ overall game: “I don’t know, I’m not sure. I think that he got hit on his arm and lost feeling in his hand, his shooting hand, so I think that’s why he missed free throws. He’s been so good I’m not going to complain about him, I mean he’s been there for the worst and we’ve ridden him through a lot of good things.” On Portland’s defensive job on Cousins: “They’re big, the big numbers that he’s (DeMarcus Cousins) been putting up have been against teams that don’t have much size. I know tonight we didn’t get a lot of easy shots for him, a lot of efficient shots for him but I’d say that Portland has got to be a piece of it.” On if he thought the overall team was fatigued: “As a coach I don’t like that excuse; as a human being that’s a justifiable excuse. As a coach these guys are going to have 10 more of these games maybe 12, we’re going to have to figure out how to win. 50% would be a great accomplishment but the game was too long for us tonight, there’s no question that the game was too long. I don’t know whether it was mental fatigue or physical fatigue. When the game turned the wrong way in the second half we didn’t have that commitment that comes most nights and my team has been really good at that this year, excellent. Persevering a bad game or a bad situation, you’re coming back strong.”
DEMARCUS COUSINS On if fatigue played a factor in tonight’s game: “You hate to make excuses but I think that played a big part of it. We just didn’t have the usual pop the team has. Even with that said I still think we had a great chancing at winning this game. We just totally let it get away toward the end of the game.” On the Blazers defense: “I could tell what their scheme was: to try to frustrate me. Leonard took advantage of the situation a little bit more. If you want to credit them, go ahead. A lot of shots didn’t fall. I don’t feel like we had a good flow offensively. There’s a lot of factors there. Even with that being said, early in the game, I thought we had a good chance to pull in a win. We just didn’t.” On tonight’s loss: “I think the other night wasn’t a bad loss. Tonight was a bad loss. I don’t think anyone is taking it too hard. We know what we have to do next.” On if he thinks Lillard should be an All-Star: “Absolutely. Dame is one of my favorite players to watch in this league. He’s a good friend of mine. He and CJ have made this team very competitive.”
