BLAZERS POST GAME QUOTES Thursday, October 18, 2018 Final: POR 128, LAL 119 HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS “Well it’s good to get another opening night win. Our bench was terrific. We withstood the kind of onslaught at the beginning of the game and I thought we played really good offensive basketball the rest of the night. Defensively, the Lakers pose a lot of problems, their speed, the way they space the floor, playing a lot of perimeter players. I thought we did a much better job defensively in the second half keeping them out of the paint. The first half that was tough in the first half, it was like a layup line. We kind of figured it out a little bit better in the second half. What did you like most about the way the bench played? “Probably the way they – I don’t want to say share the ball, but they’re unselfish. Nik got hot but I thought his shots came in the flow of the offense. In preseason, those three guys, Nik, Seth, and Evan played well together and I think that continued. Zach was really good defensively, a tough assignment guarding a three point shooter and still protecting the rim. I probably just enjoyed the style of play, the way they played. It helps when you make shots, when Nik gets hot it makes everything look good. But I thought it was a product of the style of play.” What was the key to the offense? “Well, the bench was a big part of it obviously. Nik got us going. The assists really don’t show the numbers but I thought we did pass the ball well. I thought we played with good pace. It was a very high pace game, probably in large part because of them but again, getting to the bench, our offense – we had good spurts with the bench. You look at the plus minus of the bench, that was kind of evident. We played with good pace, we shared the ball, made timely shots. I liked getting 37 threes, one of the goals of this year was to get more threes. So we’ve got enough shooters out there that we should make our share.” On Stauskas and his game: “Obviously it was the first half, he just really got in groove and the guy can shoot. I mean, we’ve seen it in practice and I was really happy for him to get off and start the season like that with a new team. But the shots that he made were all in the flow of the offense like I said. It wasn’t like he was searching shots but certainly he was ready to shoot when the ball came his way.” Stauskas played with Lillard and McCollum late, have you done that in camp? “Not really, I think during the preseason, we had that with Seth. But Nik had a game going so I wanted to keep him on the floor. It’s going to be, during the season there are going to be times when different lineups are going to be out there. Nik had earned the minutes on the court. How did you think Harkless looked? “Very good, he made a lot of good momentum plays, got some key blocks, a tip in. I don’t think he’s 100 percent right now but the minutes that he gave us – he was right at his minutes limit, but the minutes he gave us really made a difference, particularly against a team like the Lakers that played the lineup that they had, they were key minutes for us. Defensively, he made a nice three, but I think more it was the energy plays that he made and kept our momentum going.” On Collins defensively, what did you like? “Like I said, it’s a tough assignment for a seven-foot guy to be guarding a shooter like Kuzma and still be in a position to protect the rim and rebound. He’s a gamer, he enjoys the competition, he doesn’t shy away from contact or a challenge and again, he earned his minutes out there tonight.”
DAMIAN LILLARD On 16 straight wins vs Lakers: “I mean, 15 of those is in the past, the one we wanted was tonight. All streaks come to an end like I said the other day. We just wanted to get the season started off on the right foot. We got a great punch from the bench. Nik had a huge game, E.T. had a really good game, Moe came in and really gave us something. It was really a team effort. I thought we did a great job of just staying there, even with all the energy they brought into the game and all the Lakers’ fans out there to start the game. I thought we did a great job just staying calm, weathering the storm and taking over the game.” On the weapons this teams has: “Yeah I think Seth, Nik, those guys shoot the ball really well. We said that all camp long, that’s what they’ve been doing. They’ve been shooting the ball and bringing something that we haven’t had. We’ve had guys can make shots and shoot, but that’s what they do. They come in and they shoot the ball. I know it’s only one game, but if tonight is anything close to what we can look forward to, it’s something to be excited about.” On Collins’ game: “I really loved what he did defensively. I think losing Ed [Davis], in that second group we need somebody that’s going to be an enforcer and let teams know that you’re not going to just be able to come in our paint and get fouled and just get easy layups. He had some big blocks. He challenged everything. It’s great to see that he’s taking that up a level. We thought he was really good last season, this season, starting off tonight, he had a great start defensively.” On LeBron’s performance and the feel out there: “I mean it’s crazy, a guy to be in his 16th year playing at that pace and above the rim the way he was. We came into the game knowing what kind of game it was going to be. We knew from watching clips in the preseason that they were going to try to get up and down, push the ball, pass ahead and use their size and athleticism and their speed against us. I think they really thrived at doing that until we kind of settled in and started getting back and staying in front of guys. Even when we got fouls, we were back and had presence. I mean, he looked like – obviously it’s going to take time to get comfortable, new team and new teammates, you have to settle in – but he looked like himself.”
NIK STAUSKAS When you see your first shot go like that, do you know it’s your night? “I guess so, I think in that first half just most of my shots felt great. Meyers got me open on two good looks in that first quarter. As a shooter, you get two good looks to go down, things kind of start opening up after that so I just tried to be aggressive and my teammates did a good job of finding me.” On second unit tonight: “I’ve been saying, I think that second unit, we’ve got good chemistry together. We do a good job of moving the ball and playing off of each other. The thing that’s been our main goal, obviously our first unit, we’ve got a lot of talent in there, but it’s been a goal of ours for that second unit to come in and weather the storm and keep up the same energy.” You want to play well, but in your first game for a new team, is there some feeling of wanting to show what you can do? “Yeah for sure, the way I was open on those first two shots, I don’t think that was part of the scouting report or anything. It felt good to kind of put myself on the map a little bit."
COACH LUKE WALTON What’d you think of the defense tonight? “Our defense is a priority for us. We’ve got to continue to get better on that end, moving forward. We did some nice things tonight; I liked our pace, I liked our defense, our aggression with certain groups… we just didn’t do it for long enough stretches against a solid team.” Was that the biggest difference down the stretch in the fourth, the defense? “Well, give them credit; they knocked down some big shots… yeah, we needed to get some stops and we turned the ball over too many times in the fourth, so I think we had five turnovers in the fourth, which we’ve got to clean up a little bit… but that’s, you know, the first game, we’ll be able to learn a lot from that. I was overall happy with the way we played, obviously not happy with losing, but we’ll take some good stuff tonight.” Did you like the pace? “Yeah, I did, I thought we really, we had a good thing going… we had 70 points in the paint, something like that, 39 fast break points around there. We kept giving up more opportunities, that’s what I kept stressing to our guys. We would get the stop, and then we’d start leaking out instead of coming in and rebounding, so we left some on the table.” What did you think of those missed threes up until that part late in the third when they started to go down? “They were good shots. We’re going to keep taking those, Brandon getting open corner threes, Kuz had a couple of good looks, Bron had a couple of them, those are the shots we want… Lance, I told Lance in the first half if someone drives and kicks to you and you’re open, let’s go, let it go. Those are shots we’ll hit as the season goes on, so I’m fine with that.” Thoughts on LeBron’s first game? “Glad he’s on our team, he’s pretty good at the game of basketball. The way he can kind of control and lead from the court, it’s impressive. But obviously, thrilled that he’s with us and looking forward to the rest of the season.
JOSH HART General reaction to the game, the game flow, the defense, what do you think was the difference out there tonight? Great pace, we like playing at that pace. The defense we have to work on, you know we gave up 25-30. You know it’s a good team just a tough place to play. We’ve got to work on the defensive end of the ball. Off the bench or for whatever reason Stauskas got really hot, what did you see from that? I kind of wish that right when I got in I would’ve played a little bit better defense off the ball, he might not of got so hot. And we just have to make sure we get the adjustment down and get better on defense. Individually you mention how hard you worked over the course of the off season and as the MVP of the summer league. Do you feel like you saw that translate right away? Yeah I felt good. You know the free throws I missed is unacceptable, but I mean it felt good to be out there and play
LONZO BALL What was the biggest difference tonight in the game? Defense. You know playing on defense tonight we gave up a lot of offensive rebounds, you know too many threes. What do you think defensively you guys can do better as soon as Saturday? Main key is rebounding, we gave up way too many rebounds. You know, they’re a fast break team. What was working in transition for you guys? We are just faster than a lot of teams. So when we get out, not that many teams can stay with us.
LEBRON JAMES On his first game as a Laker “I liked our fight to get back into the game. We were down double-digits [at one point]. I liked how we competed at times and I liked how we shared the ball at times, as well. Those were all positives.” On what should improve in the future “There are things we can do better. We can rebound better, we had some turnovers, which I expected. We were just trying to get a feel for one another. It was our first regular season game together, so we can do a better job at that.” On being patient with a new team “It’s going to take patience from our team, from all of us, to figure out one another and to figure out what we’re good at as a team and what we’re not so good at and how we can be better at it. It was a good first test for us to be in a building where [The Blazers] haven’t lost a home opener since 2000.” On building team chemistry “Having chemistry doesn’t happen as fast as you guys think it’s going to happen, it’s not like instant oatmeal. It’s not that fast. It takes awhile for the chemistry to get to where you can close your eyes and know exactly where your guys are. That’s what we’re going to work towards, defensively and offensively. It’s going to be an everyday process for our ball club.” Setting up his teammates for success “For me, it’s an everyday thing. Leadership is not a sometime thing, it’s an everyday thing, all day. I do that every day… The best teacher in life is experience. A lot of these [younger] guys don’t have a lot of experience, so I have to understand that. Rajon [Rondo] understands that. We understand that. But you don’t get a pass for not practicing excellence every day. And that’s the difference. You control what you can control, and what I can control is how I lead these guys and how I prepare every day. I come in with a championship mindset and preaching and practicing excellence every single day.”
Postgame Notes - October 18, 2018 Portland 128, L.A. Lakers 119 Game #1 • Home Game #1 TEAM • The Trail Blazers won their 18th consecutive home opener, extending the longest streak in NBA history (14, Boston, 1779-92). • Portland beat the Lakers for the 16th straight time. That matches the second-longest winning streak over any opponent in franchise history (17, LA Clippers, 1986-89). • Portland’s bench outscored their Los Angeles counterparts, 55-46. • The Trail Blazers made 13 three-pointers (of 37, 35.1%) while the Lakers made seven three pointers (of 30, 23.3%). • Portland outrebounded the Lakers, 54-46. The Trail Blazers had 14 offensive rebounds which led to 21 second chance points. • Both teams attempted 29 free throws. Portland made 27 (93.1%) while the Lakers made 22 (75.9%).
PLAYER • Damian Lillard led the Trail Blazers with 28 points (9-21 FG, 2-7 3-PT, 8-8 FT) to go with six rebounds, four assists and one steal. Lillard has scored at least 20 points in each of his last 11 games against the Lakers. • In his Trail Blazers debut, Nik Stauskas matched his career high with 24 points (7-11 FG, 5-8 3-PT, 5-5 FT) to go with two rebounds and two assists. Stauskas scored 10 points in the rst four minutes of the second quarter. • CJ McCollum scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, nishing with 21 points (6-17 FG, 3-6 3-PT, 6-6 FT), ve rebounds and one assist. • Jusuf Nurkic recorded 16 points (7-14 FG, 2-2 FT) and nine rebounds. • Evan Turner had 13 points (5-8 FG, 3-4 FT), three rebounds, six assists and two steals in 21 minutes. • Zach Collins had a career-high six blocks (3, 12/9/17 vs. Hou.) to go with six points and six rebounds. • Maurice Harkless notched seven points, six rebounds and three blocks in 18 minutes off the bench. • Meyers Leonard matched his career high with four assists (eight times, last 1/13/17 vs. Cho.) to go with four rebounds in eight minutes. • LeBron James led the Lakers with 26 points (9-16 FG, 0-4 3-PT, 8-9 FT) and 12 rebounds to go with six assists and one stea
Having been conspicuously quiet since LeBron came to town, how long until Big Mouth Baller is ranting over his son being benched and playing less than 20 minutes per game?
lol, lakers better be careful as Lavar Ball will pack up his kid and take him to Lithuania to be a star.