HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS “It was a good grind-it-out game for us. The offense never really got on track for most of the night but our defense was pretty solid for the most part. We did a good job on tendencies. We didn’t rebound the ball particularly well the first half but I thought we took care of that better the second half. Gerald Henderson really gave us a lift off the bench, particularly in the first half, but he was solid. It was disappointing – up nine at half, I wish we could have kind of extended the lead a little but they came back and we did what we needed to do.” On getting 17 turnovers from Wolves, was that an emphasis? “Forcing turnovers hasn’t been an emphasis, I think just emphasizing being more aggressive defensively and being in position. I think if you’re aggressive and you’re alert and you’re in position, I think turnovers come to you, but it’s not about picking a guy off the dribble or something like that. It’s about being fundamental and I think when you’re doing that, you have a better chance.” Do you sense more belief with team in this stretch? “I don’t know if it’s a greater belief. I think we’ve had a belief all year to be perfectly honest. We kicked some games early, we didn’t lose our confidence, we kept working. The schedule has come back to us a little bit, that helps. But I don’t think there’s ever been a point where our confidence has wavered.” On winning close games lately: “It’s a process. Still, I don’t think we have had a game that we feel like we stole on a last second play. It’s good that we’ve been able to grind it out in the fourth quarter and find ways to win games and hopefully that’ll continue. But it’s been a process all year. Like we said early in the season when we weren’t doing those things, we had to figure out how to do it and I think it’s been a good progression for us.”
DAMIAN LILLARD Winning four in a row: “Coming in we knew we had some winnable games and it was just a matter of us taking care of business. Over the last couple of games, we’ve defended better, we’ve shared the ball better and we’ve played more complete games, so that’s led to us being able to win four in a row.” On guys finishing games “The past couple games we hadn’t been able to pull away from teams and sometimes our starters would sit the last couple minutes but tonight they had a last minute push. We had to get a few stops to close out the game, make a few of free throws and we did that. We’re showing signs of growth.” On Karl Anthony Towns: “He’s been that way all season long. Usually with rookies, you expect them to have more ups and downs than he’s having, but he’s a special player. I think the way he played tonight is what the league is starting to expect from him.” On home stand: “It’s been good for us. We’ve had a lot of time to practice. We’ve been able to go over schemes and get deeper into our scouting report because we have more time. Being able to go to our own houses – it means something to me to be able to be able to sleep in my own bed and be on my own time, so it’s been a great home stand for us. We’ve just got to try to close it out strong now.
CJ MCCOLLUM On winning close games lately: “I think the difference has been execution. We’re executing better down the stretch. Defensively, we’re getting enough stops to win the game. Like I’ve said before, when you lose close games, you learn how to bounce back and look at the film, see what you did wrong and you try to correct it the next time.” How does it feel to be getting better at that? “It feels pretty good. When you’re at home, you’ve got to protect your home court. When you have a lead – ten points, five points, whatever it may be – down the stretch of a game, you’ve got to run clock, take advantage of the defense if they’re trapping and just try to get a good shot while using clock every possession.”
HEAD COACH SAM MITCHELL On tonight’s game: “We got great shots. I mean, that first half… we had good looks. But some nights we struggle shooting the ball. We found a way to hang around and win games… I was laughing with the coaches on the bench in that first quarter, I was like, ‘we got a chance to win, this is our MO for winning’. It seems like when we miss shots, we play better defense. Our defense was good, we rebounded the ball well we did a lot of good things we just didn’t get the ball to go in the basket.” On his team’s rebounding tonight: “Yeah, we did a lot of good things we just didn’t make enough shots. Offensively we just missed some good opportunities and then we missed 11 free throws or something like that.” On his team’s 3 point shooting in the fourth quarter: “Yeah, I mean, everybody looks at us crazy, but G (Gorgui Dieng) and Karl (Anthony Towns) probably for our team shoot the 3, well Karl shoots the 3 pretty well, but G can make the corner 3 and we’re okay with him shooting that shot when he’s got his feet under it. Other than Zach (Lavine), he’s been our most consistent 3 point shooter, but it’s something that we want to do. Bazz (Shabazz Muhammad) got in foul trouble early and could just not get it going, he picked up 3 fouls that first half and after that he just couldn’t get it back going and we just didn’t make enough shots.” On Andrew Wiggins playing well despite shoot poorly: “Getting to the free throw line, he’s rebounding, putting pressure on defense, he’s making passes. We want him attacking the basket like that… Ball just didn’t go in.”
KARL-ANTHONY TOWNS On not being able to close out close games: “Coach had a great game plan for us, Damian Lillard stepped up in the fourth quarter for them and hit a lot of big shots for them. It’s one of those things where their star player is hitting big shots for them at the right moment at the right time.” On how offensive rebounding swung the game: “I thought it was a good part of the game for them but it wasn’t something that made the game what it was. We missed a lot of free throws, including myself, it’s something that we got to just work on the next day and be ready for LA.” On the multitude of ways to win or lose a game: “It’s the little things that add up at the end of the game. We did a great job the whole game at making sure we were playing defense at a high level but it’s those little details. Portland was learning the whole game and they put it together at the right time.” On them playing more and thinking less: “I think that’s the biggest thing for us now, we’re playing more and we’re not trying to run a play or anything, we’re just going with the flow and seeing where things take us. That’s when we’re at our best, I think when we try to be perfect that’s when we struggle sometimes but that’s because of our youth. We’re used to playing playground type basketball so throw in the ball and start running.”
ANDREW WIGGINS On the game: “I think we played great defense for most of the part, contesting shots that they had.” On his game despite shooting poorly: “I couldn’t make my midrange pull-ups and everything like that, even layups around the rim that are easy to make. So I just tried to rebound and make the team better.”
