HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS “Well I liked the way we started the game. I thought we played with a lot of energy, we moved the ball, we made shots, we defended well and their bench, especially Clark, came in and made a difference – a 17-2 run at the end of the first quarter. It kind of took the wind out of our sails, but Curry was great in the third quarter and they pulled away. It’s a good measuring stick. They’re an excellent team and they showed that tonight.” On Layman’s performance late: “You know, I was glad. I mean, obviously he came in and made shots, got to get a good run. Even though we were down 30, it was a good opportunity for all those guys, all five of them to get a good run rather than just two or three minutes. So I was glad for him that he got a little rhythm and hit his shots. I thought those five guys played well, played hard and it was a good opportunity for everybody.” What did you like about the first quarter performance? “I thought offensively we really moved the ball well, then turnovers – I think we had 5 or 6 turnovers in a span of 4 or 5 minutes. You give a team like Golden State extra opportunities, it’s going to bite you somewhere along the line. But the first 7 or 8 minutes, the ball movement was good, our execution was good, our shot making was good, defensively they missed some good shots that they may normally have made, but I thought the first 7 or 8 minutes was really encouraging, but that’s a fifth of the game.” Did they do anything to get Curry going in the third? “He just does what Curry does.” DAMIAN LILLARD “I thought we didn’t communicate as well as we did in the first half. We need to do a better job of it in the first half, the third quarter we slipped up. We allowed them to get clean looks, they got it going. They made plays. Every mistake that we made, every turnover, every offensive rebound that we gave up, every miscommunication in coverages, it seemed like they took advantage of it. A lot of times we were allowing that to be Steph in transition and loose balls, the ball kept finding him. Once it hit a couple off our mistakes, he started hitting tough ones. Then he started setting screens and we were so worried about staying attached to him, they started slipping to the rim and it just got away from us. It’s a learning experience for us, but at the end of the day, it’s one game out of 82.” Coach said this was a measuring stick, do you see it that way? “I think it just shows that elite teams, they find a way to do what they do best. In the first half, we got with them, we were right there, and they just stuck with it. They kept doing what they do. They were physical on defense, they had active hands. Makes and misses, they pushed it out, they screened for each other. They played their game. In the first half, we were right there. In the second half, they stuck with it. Their defense was more consistent than ours, and their offense was more freely than ours was. We needed to have more of a presence. I think he was right, it shows what we need to do better to be able to stay in a game like that.” How much does it affect offense when forwards aren’t hitting threes? “You have nights like that. Like I was saying, when we aren’t making shots and they are making shots, we’ve got to be able to do those small things. We’ve got to limit them to one possession. We’ve got to help each other out on off ball screens, we’ve got to protect the paint, we’ve got to have a tighter shell on the weak side when that’s happening. When we’re not making shots, we’ve got to make it harder for them to make shots as well. Tonight we didn’t do that. Missing shots, it happens.” What is mindset going on road trip? “It’s going to be a good test for us early. We won two, lost two. It’s going to be a tough trip but a fun one. We should be excited about the opportunity to get back out there tomorrow after the type of game we had tonight.”
HEAD COACH STEVE KERR On whether the offense sparked the defense in the third quarter: “I thought the defense sparked the offense in this game in general. As far as quarter by quarter, I’d have to look at it more carefully. Obviously once Steph [Curry] does what he did in the third, it’s demoralizing for opponents, but I just thought the defense was the best it’s been so far in a full game. Our guys were active, our bench came in and was great, Andre [Iguodala] was phenomenal, David West was brilliant and obviously Ian [Clark] comes in and goes eight for eight knocking down those shots, which helped us get off to that good start.” On how big it was for Ian Clark to have a game like this: “It was big. Ian has been around now for a few years, so I don’t think he was too down after the first few games. He had a great preseason, so this didn’t shock me. He can play, he can shoot and we’ve got a lot of other guys that can shoot, so he’s going to have some openings. Defenses are not going to pay that much attention to him, so he can take advantage. He was great tonight.” On what stood out about his team’s defense: Just the activity level I thought was great. This is a really hard team to guard. They spread you out and force your bigs to come way out to the three point line. That’s a hard thing to do, to cover the line and to cover the rim. I thought Zaza [Pachulia] and David [West] were great. Draymond [Green] was phenomenal defensively, he set the tone early in the game. They had maybe a six or eight point lead and Draymond and Andre really solidified us defensively. Draymond made some brilliant plays and obviously Ian started making shots, but overall very happy with the defense.” STEPH CURRY On if his second half was based on his mindset: “There’s a lot of game left and just relying on my teammates’ energy. I don’t know exactly why we weren’t clicking in the second half but we never lose confidence. You don’t know how it’s going to play out but you just continue to try to be aggressive, have short memory and just play.” On the teams first half and second half differences: “We picked up the aggressiveness and intensity and focus on the defensive end. Especially against this team if you can stop certain options that they’re looking for and get rebounds and push in transition, that’s when we’re at our best and we were able to do that for a good stretch of the third quarter. Dame [Lillard] got off a little bit early in the game and we just tried to make it as tough as we could on him and we rebound the ball and then everyone was locked in defensively, it was a lot of fun the way we were playing in the third quarter.” On if they planned to have him and Klay Thompson switch guarding Lillard: “I mean foul trouble kind of directed us in that situation but whoever is guarding him, with the different options they run for him has always got to be alert and know where the help is. Even Ian [Clark] did an amazing job on him like down the stretch in the third quarter. Just trying to lock on him especially on pick and rolls.” KEVIN DURANT On Ian Clark’s performance: “It makes us really tough. He came on and gave us a spark when we needed it, we were struggling to make shots early in the first quarter and he came in and gave us a nice punch and we kind of got going after that. Defensively we were locked in all night and we made them shoot tough shots, we protected the rim and rebounded and got out and ran.” On if he knows when Steph will go off: “He’s never off to be honest. Every shot he shoots, no matter if he misses bad, you still think he’s on. When you can shoot the ball that quick and with that much accuracy, every shot is a good shot.” On how much he’ll think about playing his former team in their next game: “We’ve got an off day tomorrow so I’m going to enjoy myself on an off day, get away from basketball. And then in shootaround we’ll think about going over gameplan stuff on how we’re going to try and win a game.”
• Damian Lillard scored 31 points on 8-of-19 shooting, and has now totaled 136 points in four games this season. That is the most points scored through the first four games of any season in Trail Blazers history (124-Vandeweghe, 1984). • Jake Layman scored 17 points in his NBA debut, representing the most points by a Trail Blazer in his career debut since Damian Lillard scored 23 points on Oct. 31, 2012. • Jake Layman (5-7 3-PT) is the first player in Trail Blazers history to make five three-pointers in his first career game. Layman, who tied Stephen Curry for a game-high in three-pointers, finished one three-pointer shy of the franchise record for threes in a single quarter (6-Cliff Robinson). • Damian Lillard (31 pts) has now scored at least 30 points in five of his past seven regular season games against the Warriors. Lillard has scored 20-plus points in six of those seven contests. • Evan Turner’s 14 points (5-6 FG) represents his highest scoring total as a Trail Blazer. Turner has averaged 12.5 points on 10-of-15 shooting (2-3 3-PT) in his past two games (3.5 ppg through first two contests). • Evan Turner scored 11 of his 14 points in the second quarter on 4-of-4 shooting (1-1 3-PT, 2-2 FT). • Golden State guard Ian Clark scored a career-high 22 points on 8-of-8 shooting (21, 12/30/15 at Dal.).
