Postgame Notes – November 10, 2019 Portland 124, Atlanta 113 (OT) Game No. 10, Home Game No. 4 TEAM • Portland had four 20 point scorers for the first time since March 18th, 2014 (vs. Milwaukee). The Trail Blazers join the Pacers as the only teams to have four different players score 20-plus points in a game this season. • The Trail Blazers outrebounded the Hawks 60-49, with Portland’s 60 rebounds being a season-high. • The Trail Blazers blocked nine shots while Atlanta had eight blocks. Both teams recorded 10 steals. • The Trail Blazers had 28 attempts from the FT line, the most they have attempted this season (made 22). • Both teams recorded 54 points in the paint. • The Trail Blazers bench outscored the Atlanta reserves, 34-18. PLAYER • Damian Lillard led Portland with 30 points (8-17 FG, 3-9 3-PT, 11-12 FT), and added seven rebounds and six assists in a game-high 44 minutes. It was his sixth 30+ point game this season, and 10th consecutive game reaching the 20-point mark. The 10 game streak is an NBA-high this season. • Anfernee Simons scored a season-high 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting (3-5 3-PT, 1-1 FT) to go with three rebounds, two assists and two steals. It was the second 20+ point game of his career and his fifth straight game scoring in double figures. • Hassan Whiteside had 21 points (7-13 FG, 7-9 FT) 11 rebounds and three blocks. It was his fourth consecutive double-double and his sixth of the season. • CJ McCollum recorded 23 points (11-23 FG, 1-6 3-PT), eight rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks. It was the fifth time he has reached the 20 point mark this season, and his eight rebounds were a season-high. • Kent Bazemore finished with 13 points (5-13 FG, 3-6 3-PT), eight rebounds, two steals and two blocks in 34 minutes. His two blocks tied a season high. His eight rebounds tied his season-high, and it was the third time this season that he has reached double-figures. • Gary Trent Jr. finished with a season-high seven points (3-8 FG, 1-4 3-PT), five rebounds and one assist in 16 minutes off the bench. • Trae Young led all scorers with 35 points (9-30 FG, 3-13 3-PT, 14-17 FT), four off of his season-high. He added eight rebounds, 10 assists and three steals. It was his seventh career game with 35+ points, and second consecutive game with 30+ points and 10+ assists. • Jabari Parker added a season-high 27 points on 13-of-23 shooting (1-6 3PT, 0-3 FT), to go with 11 rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks. His eleven rebounds were a season-high and contributed to his first double-double of the season.
HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS Opening statements… “Needless to say we needed that win. I thought our guys really fought through and found a way to win however it came and it didn’t come easy. (Alex) Len made some big plays, some loose balls, but we fought through some of that, fought through some misadventures and transitions, but we needed it, no matter how we got it, we got it.” On the teams’ performance in the overtime period… “It’s nice to get a cushion, I thought Kent Bazemore had a terrific game and he got us off to a great start in overtime with those two threes, defensively he was solid all night guarding (Trae) Young and you never know what’s going to happen in overtime, but to get an early cushion and be able to pull away in overtime was good. I thought we did a lot of good things and we weren’t able to take advantage of some of them during the course of the fourth quarter, but it kind of paid off in the overtime.” On Anfernee Simons’ performance this year… “This year? He’s been good, he keeps getting better, and he got hot in the third quarter when we needed him. I was looking for a way to get him back in the game but Kent (Bazemore) was pretty good. Anfernee knows how to get to the spots, he’s a confident shooter, so he came up big in the third quarter for sure.” On Trae Young’s 35 points… “We fouled him, and he got a lot of calls, and a lot of free throws, but Kent (Bazemore) really made him work for it. Hassan (Whiteside) had a big presence on his drives to the rim, so they weren’t necessarily easy on him around the basket. He made some tough shots that he’s just going to make.” On Terry Stotts’ challenge strategy… “Well replay helps, to be able to see it up there. It’s worked out well for us a couple times but it is what it is. You have to save your time outs because you never know if you’re going to need a challenge. My philosophy pretty much is to save it for the last 3 or 4 minutes of the game.” On Terry Stotts’ feel for the new players on the team… “It’s been a little haphazard right now with Zach (Collins) being hurt and now Rodney (Hood) being out, so I’m pleased with the guys who are able to come in. I thought Mario (Hezonja) fought through some tough plays and made some good plays for us in overtime. Anthony Tolliver is giving us a lot, but he hasn’t made as many shots as I know he can make, Skal (Labissiere) fought through his sprained ankle, and Hassan (Whiteside) was terrific for a guy who’s playing through some foot pain and comes up big.”
DAMIAN LILLARD On showing lots of emotion late: “Just because in the huddle at the end of regulation, I just turned to the group and I told them that sometimes when you’re struggling and you’re having a hard time like we have, you get put in these type of situations where you’ve got to see how back you want it. You’ve got to dig out and do it as a group. We came out there and I felt like we were just doing the right things. We were coming up with stops, deflections, the ball started hopping around, making shots. I don’t think we could have played that five minutes any better than we did when the game was on the line and such a bid situation for us. So I was just excited for our team.” On Bazemore’s performance, especially the two threes in overtime: “It was huge. Tonight he had the assignment with Trae Young and he had the ball in his hands pretty much the whole game, chasing him off screens, finding him in transition. Just that type of effort is tough. He was there all night. And then down the stretch, he was rewarded for his effort and for him being locked into that – two big threes. CJ hit one. But like I said, I think his effort on the defensive end and him taking that challenge was really big. I think it got his mind into the game and it was perfect. It came against his former team and in a game that needed.” On McCollum hitting a big three – especially after struggling a bit: “He started the season struggling shooting the ball and it happens. I mentioned after last game that sometimes you have losing streaks in the middle of the season and things like that and it doesn’t seem as bad as it seemed for us. Since it’s the beginning of the season, it seems worse, and I think his situation is similar. He started off kind of struggling shooting the ball so it’s a bigger deal but if it just happened in the middle of the season, it’d be like he’s just in a shooting slump and then he’ll come out of it. So I think that’s all it was. I think we all know the level of player that he is and our team and coaches have got a thousand percent confidence in him. He’s not a person that you ever have to worry about with confidence and that’s not ever going to stop. It was just good to see him get going and hit some big shots and find his way.”
CJ McCOLLUM Can you take some confidence from this game? “Yeah, if I would have missed every shot tonight – I liked the shots that I’ve been getting – mid-range, floaters, finish around the basket, catch and shoot threes. Those are high percentage shots for me, especially the catch and shoot threes historically. I’m around 40 percent and in the catch and shoot, it’s probably like 45, 46. I like the shots I’ve been getting, I’ve just got to capitalize. Just got back to the lab, I tightened some stuff up, talked to my guy Phil who broke some shots down for me, sent them to me and I was able to get a better understanding of how I was missing. In and out and short historically is how I usually miss, now I usually miss left to right, so just get the ball over the rim and I can live with in and out misses, just don’t be short.” What was the key in overtime? “We got stops. We had talked about it. Historically, everybody talks about our offense in the fourth quarter but it’s our defense that has been kind of letting us down. We’re just figuring out ways to get stops and then we can get out and run. Obviously D did a great job of maneuvering in the pick and roll, double teams coming, finding Kent in the corner, a couple pass-pass threes and then we finished the game with getting stops.” Did you feel good about the defense on Young (35 points on 30 shots)? “Yeah, he’s a great player. He’s smart, he knows how to use his pick and rolls, his body. But Kent did a good job, we did a good job of just trying to guard him with five and make him see bodies and live with the results.” Was there relief hitting the three late? What was it like getting that one? “It’s good to see one go down from distance. I had some great looks tonight from three. A lot of in and outs, but a big moment, big game for us, especially since we lost
HEAD COACH LLOYD PIERCE On Kevin Huerter’s floater to force overtime.. “It’s good for him, anytime a guy can make a big shot at a crucial time it’s great for their confidence. Great to see him go win a 50-50 ball in the corner and get a three. Good little scramble at the end with 7.6 seconds left, he ends up with the basketball and makes an aggressive move downhill to the rim. I’m happy for him and I’m happy for all our guys. I thought all of our guys competed. I thought we had a great opportunity to win a game on the road tonight and start off this trip. The home team came up big in the fourth quarter so credit to them, but I thought our guys played their tails off tonight and I had to play a bunch of guys a lot of minutes, just because it was the group that got us there. I’m happy for our guys and the way they competed tonight.” On changes made in the overtime session.. “Who knows, I need to watch the film and see some of our breakdowns. They just had a different spirit and we got caught in a couple crowd plays and shots don’t go down. Baze (Kent Bazemore) hits back to back threes, still a lot of time but I can’t tell you exactly what happened and why we ran out of gas down the stretch.” On Ty Wallace playing big minutes tonight.. “Yeah, just trying to keep a defensive unit out on the court, when we have the opportunity to do so. We were trying to make it tough for Dame (Lillard) and CJ (McCollum) on the pick and rolls. We also wanted as many guys that we thought could contain and keep them in front and Ty (Wallace) was one of those guys. DeAndre’ Bembry with 40 minutes tonight was another one of those guys.” On fans expecting big numbers from Trae Young and how coach (Lloyd Pierce) would evaluate his performance tonight.. “Good, we needed every bit of it. They were doing a good job of trying to send him into a direction and keep him from playing with a comfort that he normally plays with. He’s always going to face that; He did a great job of being aggressive and getting to the foul line. Shots weren’t falling as easily tonight but he did a good job of attacking and getting to the foul line. I think he had 17 free throws, his ability to manage the game with the basketball and find guys when he needed to as well.”
Jabari Parker “It’s always tough to win here against the Trail Blazers at home as the home team and we tried to give them a fight. Really, hats off to the guys who came off the bench tonight and brought that energy and played a good game.” We’re looking at you in a starting role now but tonight’s also the first start for Kevin Huerter so incorporating someone whom you haven’t played with a lot, what did you see from him? And at the end of regulation to get you guys into overtime. “Kevin is going to bring us a lot, he’s very talented. You saw he brought us to a few minutes in overtime trying to get a win so he’s going to be really good. Who’s ever out there most importantly just gotta do the best that we can and whatever makes it easy on Trae (Young, myself and the other guys. You made it known before that it is a collective effort with this group and all your points are necessary. When you get twenty-seven points and eleven rebounds, are you reaching your expectations? “No, I can’t say I’m reaching my expectations if we aren’t winning. It’s only about winning, I just center everything when points go into winning. It doesn’t go beyond my name on the scoreboard it’s for the Atlanta Hawks. I just try to keep that mentality and hopefully we bounce back against Denver (Nuggets).” As tough as you guys battled, what changed in the overtime session? “Pretty much they got off to a good start, the energy was heading their way. We can learn from this more importantly, when teams get the momentum and shoot a couple threes. We’ll find ways to get a point and those are things we have to go through right now and it’s good that we’re on the road.”
Based on this quote about play in the OT, it appears that Dame has added the coaching from within that makes the difference in winning close games. “Just because in the huddle at the end of regulation, I just turned to the group and I told them that sometimes when you’re struggling and you’re having a hard time like we have, you get put in these type of situations where you’ve got to see how back you want it. You’ve got to dig out and do it as a group. We came out there and I felt like we were just doing the right things. We were coming up with stops, deflections, the ball started hopping around, making shots. I don’t think we could have played that five minutes any better than we did when the game was on the line and such a bid situation for us. So I was just excited for our team.” Let's keep this step forward in place on the way to getting back to achieving above 50% wins!
