Postgame Notes - November 8, 2018 Portland 116, LA Clippers 105 Game #12 • Home Game #8 TEAM • The Trail Blazers had 37 points in the rst quarter, marking their highest-scoring first period of the season. • Portland outrebounded the Clippers, 53-41, including a 14-7 advantage on the offensive glass. • The Trail Blazers had 20 second chance points to the Clippers 10 second chance points. • The Trail Blazers held the Clippers to 3-of-13 shooting (23.1%) from the three-point line in the second half. Los Angeles shot 8-of-23 (34.8%) from deep for the game while the Trail Blazers shot 10-of-26 (38.5%) from the three-point line. • Portland shot 26-of-28 from the foul line (92.9%) while the Clippers were 15-of-20 from the stripe (75.0%). • Portland recorded a season-low seven turnovers while the Clippers also turned the ball over just seven times. • The Trail Blazers reserves combined to score 41 points while the Clippers bench scored 43 points. PLAYER • Damian Lillard scored a game-high 25 points (11-of-25 FG, 3-7 3-PT) to go with four re- bounds, four assists, one steal and one block. • CJ McCollum nished with 23 points (8-20 FG, 2-6 3-PT, 5-5 FT), seven rebounds and two assists. He seven boards matched his season high. • Jusuf Nurkic recorded 16 points (4-12 FG, 8-8 FT), nine rebounds and three blocks before fouling out. His eight free throws matched his season high. • Evan Turner recorded seven points (3-7 FG, 1-2 FT) and a team-high seven assists off the bench. • Zach Collins logged 10 points (3-6 FG, 4-4 FT) and nine rebounds in 27 minutes off the bench. It was his seventh game in double gures this season. • Al-Farouq Aminu had 11 points (3-4 FG, 2-2 3-PT, 3-3 FT), eight rebounds, one steal and one block. • Lou Williams had 20 points (8-22 FG, 0-4 3-PT, 4-4 FT), three rebounds and a team-high seven assists in 36 minutes off the bench for the Clippers. • Clippers rookie Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a career-high 19 points (7-12 FG, 2-2 3-PT, 3-6 FT) to go with three rebounds and two assists.
HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS On hanging in there when Clippers made some runs late: “It was one of those games where I didn’t think we could get – we weren’t getting the cushion that we’d like to have. We’d get up and then kind of lose it, get up and lose it. But I liked the way we were able to finish. They put a small shooting lineup out there that was challenging. But we made good plays at the end. It wasn’t, even though we led most of the game, it didn’t feel like we were ever in control of the game.” When a team goes small, how do you decide to match or go big, or? “Right now it’s about seeing how things go. I brought Meyers in when Marjanovic was in and then they immediately went small, so I was going to let that go a little bit just to see. I didn’t want to just take him out to take him out and match up. I thought Meyers did a nice job with his defensive assignments during that stretch. I thought he played well individually but I thought the group obviously played well and we were able to stretch the lead. But to answer your question, I don’t want to overreact right away and just kind of give it a few possessions and see how it goes.” On bench: “They really play well together. Evan, Seth, Nik, and Zach, and then the first half it was Caleb, the second half it was Meyers, they had a good rhythm and they were able to expand the lead. I think when the starters came back with seven-something to go, they were able to give us that cushion, that’s important. They’ve done that many times this year where not only do they maintain the lead, sometimes they extend it.” On Turner’s performance and finding his teammates: “Same as every game, really. I think what he’s doing offensively speaks for itself. It’s pretty obvious. I think sometimes what gets overlooked is he has tough defensive assignments as well. Like tonight, he had Harris. In other games, he’s had to guard the best perimeter player and he accepts that role as well. Physically it’s taxing to run the offense, get people involved, then take on a defensive assignment. He’s done well at both ends.” What’s the difference with this bench unit? “They’re skilled. They’re very skilled and I think their skillsets mesh well. Zach can go inside and outside. You can go through each one of their attributes and how it complements. Evan’s playmaking and defensive abilities. Nik and Seth and their offensive abilities, playing with and without the ball. Zach playing inside and outside on offense and being a rim protector. Then the versatility of whoever that fifth guy is. Moe early, Meyers, Caleb, Chief – that person can kind of give it some flexibility.
DAMIAN LILLARD How did you feel about that one? “I felt good. It was a grind-it-out kind of game. I thought our team did a good job at just being present for the entire game. Our bench once again came through, gave us another spark down the stretch. The end of the third, beginning of the fourth, they had a really good stretch, opened up the game a little bit and left it there for us to come close it out. So another team effort.” On continuity paying off: “I think our time together, how good we get along together, our understanding of what our coaches want us to do, our understanding of each other, I think it’s all coming together. The time spent is really counting for us right now.” On going to the basket tonight: “They didn’t have much rim protection out there so I kept trying to attack the basket. I didn’t shoot a free throw last game and didn’t shoot one this game. Both teams play physical defense so I was just trying to get downhill, get to the basket and draw some contact. A few times I was able to get there and finish, other times I didn’t but they really started coming in and I think we started to be able to kick it out for some threes and get some better looks.” On chance to go 5-1 on this home stand: “We haven’t really focused on let’s do this for the home stand, let’s do that. It’s just been one game at a time. Usually, in the past, we’d be like, ‘We’ve got this team, then we’ve got that team. We need to get this one, then get that one.’ This entire time has been like, we’ve literally been asking each other like who is the next game? So we’ve literally been taking it one game at a time and it’s paying off for us.” Why do you think that is? “Not sure, that’s just the way it’s been. I usually look at the schedule all the time. When we got home, I looked it and it and I saw the group of teams but I still didn’t’ know what was coming up, and it’s just been that way.
HEAD COACH DOC RIVERS Doc, you guys were able to make a close ball game in the 4 th quarter. Where did you fall short in the end? I just thought offensive execution tonight, you know, same thing, you know, it’s fun in the wins, we do it in the losses, we don’t. Before the game, we talked about offensive rebounds, and just execution and I thought we fell there. You know, our defense – you know, they’re a good offensive team; I thought we forced some tough shots with their guard. They didn’t shoot a great percentage but then they got the ball back on a couple of them; and I thought down the stretch – the last 8 minutes of the game our offense really let us down. I thought the bench hurt us, too. Shai had his best scoring night in his young season, what did you think about him? It was good at times, you know, he had the biggest minus for us tonight. But, he played well overall. I thought he did a pretty good job defensively, too. You know, that tells you, you can put him on a Lillard or a McCollum and he can do pretty good, so I was overall happy with him
DANILO GALLINARI On challenges faced when playing the Trail Blazers “We didn’t start the game with very good defense. The Blazers scored 37 points in the first quarter. Our defense got better, but in the fourth quarter, they were better than us. The game was tight then the last five or six minutes they were able to go out there and manage the lead.” On various lineups “When I was at the five, we were able to stretch the defense and have some open shots. I thought the rhythm was pretty good, but the Blazers were just better than us.” TOBIAS HARRIS On troubles towards the end of the game “I think we just had looks that we’re confident in guys making and we weren’t able to make those shots. The Blazers were able to get makes. That hurt us. We didn’t have as much flow with ball movement as we’re used to. It’s something that we can get better at and fix, so that’s a good thing.” On Danilo Gallinari being healthy “[Danilo Gallinari] is a great player. He spaces the floor and is a versatile forward, so any time you have a versatile forward in the League, those are great players to play with and great players to feed off. It’s been great to have him out there and to have him healthy.” SHAI GILGEOUS-ALEXANDER On being in the starting lineup “I knew that I would get more comfortable as the games went on, whether that was starting or coming off the bench. [Starting] didn’t really matter to me, I just want to contribute to this team as much as possible.” On playing against Damian Lillard “I tried to bother him a little bit with my size, he’s obviously really talented and one of the best players in the NBA. I picked up a few things to know for next time I go up against him.
