HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS “Well that was a game we shouldn’t have lost but certainly Brooklyn deserved to win. They outplayed us after the first quarter but particularly in the third quarter, they played harder than we did. They got loose balls, they ran faster, and the last five minutes anything can happen. They deserved to win.” Why didn’t Nurkic play in the fourth? “I thought with their small lineup, I thought defensively we were giving up too much when he was in the game and I liked Ed’s athleticism.” What was the message to the team after the game? “We have to be consistent and play the same way. We didn’t play the same way – we didn’t play the same way in the third quarter. We only had four assists the second half, we had nine in the first quarter. Our offense, even though we didn’t shoot the ball well per se, I didn’t think we moved the ball as well as we should have. We have to play the same way. We got a ten point lead and stopped playing the same way.”
CJ MCCOLLUM “Not a good loss, not a good loss. It’s a game we should have won. No offense to the Brooklyn Nets, but that’s a game we should have won.” What do you make of what’s going on with the offense? “I’m not sure, I’d have to watch some film but I think for the most part -- the third quarter, we had a bad third quarter. They went on a run in the third quarter. Defensively, with the way they play, switching a lot and then on offense, smaller free flowing offense where a lot of different shooters, a lot of different lineups, it’s not your traditional lineup out there. So you’ve just got to do a better job of matching up and just figuring out who to find in transition. Five shooters out there. Acy at the five, I think he had going into this game 36 shots, 30 of them were threes, so everybody on the court was able to kind of spread the floor out which opened up the paint a little bit.” Was there an adjustment to play without Nurkic in the fourth? “Yeah, I mean obviously he’s a very good player for us but you just have to trust what we’re doing as a team, as a unit, and I don’t think they had a center in the game the last 20 minutes, the opposing team, so maybe that played a factor.”
ED DAVIS “It’s a game we should have won for sure. We’re definitely the better team but we didn’t show it tonight. It’s a home game, they’re on a road trip – it’s just a game we should have won. Nothing else to say but that, we should have won tonight.” On being 6-6 right now: “It’s not necessarily the records, it’s just how we’re losing. Games like this and then games we should have won, but obviously it’s disappointing.” What did their small lineup do to you guys? “I mean, they play so loose. They don’t really run a bunch of sets, whoever catch it, you go. Anybody can shoot it. They don’t really have one person that’s dominating the ball, attracting a bunch of attention other than Russell a little bit. They’re just a loose team and they’re a young team and they’re playing up and down, fast, and you get caught up in the game and things like tonight happen.”
HEAD COACH KENNY ATKINSON On how Brooklyn regained momentum in the fourth quarter: “We stayed with it and we kept defending. Like what I said before the game, you just have to take it possession after possession. You can’t relax with these guys. I thought our guys took the challenge, took the individual challenge, each of them and I thought it was our defense again that really kept us in the game.” On if this was their best defensive performance of the season: “Yeah and plus on the road, so I would say yes, plus they have they have two great players, they’re an excellent offensive team, so good job buy our guys locking in.” On Brooklyn’s progression: “Yeah, listen, I think that’s the goal right now, us to improve every game and see progress. I felt like getting healthier helps us. Quincy (Acy) obviously, I thought his threes were huge, that spread the court for us. I thought we got better tonight.” On D’Angelo Russell in the last minutes: “Yeah, nine assists and only two turnovers. I thought he read the game really well and picked his spots. Seems like the games where we’ve done well offensively, he’s picked his spots, he waits until the end to really go to work in the pick n’ roll and before that gets everybody else involved. I thought he did a nice job of balancing that out.”
D’ANGELO RUSSELL Can you talk about how similar this game was to Phoenix? Quincy Acy was big time tonight. He started finally making shots and that got the team going. Throughout the whole game, he started making shots and everybody started feeding off him. When he’s shooting like that, does it open the floor? Yeah. Like I said, he’s struggling all year… No. I’m just playing! It was good though just to have that balance. When everybody is doing their part, at the end of the game everyone is willing to make shots and stepping up to make plays. When you compare this game to Phoenix, you were off on turnovers, was there any thought about that before this game? I wasn’t really thinking about Phoenix. I was thinking about Portland. Like I said, when everybody is making shots, and playing defense knowing that when we come into Portland we have two guys to really focus on. It makes my job easier once we try to contain those guys. On the offensive end, we showed that we can put up points at any variety of shooting… post transition, whatever it may be. Just being consistent at that. Was this your best defensive performance this year? Yeah. Honestly, I think we played defense for all 48 minutes. We maybe had a minute in a half lapse or what not, but 48 minutes everybody played their part. In the 17-0 span, what were you doing so well defensively? That was my whole focus coming in tonight. Not really worrying about the offensive end knowing that my guys had my back. Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum… that’s a big time duo. They’ve been killing this league for a while now, so that was my main focus. Offensive, like I said, we scored in bunches, so didn’t really focus on offense. It was more about defense.
RONDAE HOLLIS-JEFFERSON When the Blazers came back from the 10 point deficit and were up 5, you didn’t panic. What was said in the huddle? Stay calm. That’s pretty much what got us over the mountain. Dame and CJ can make tough shots, Even Turner, they’re a really skilled team. So, you just have to stay calm and weather the storm as best as you can, and when it’s your time to make that run be ready to do it. What’s the key to Saturday night for you? It starts now. The recovery – taking care of your body, listening what the trainers have to say. Preparing yourself mentally also. I feel like that will be good for us.
Also, WE STOPPED PLAYING THE SAME WAY BECAUSE YOU TOOK OUT THE THINGS THAT WERE MAKING US EFFECTIVE. Jesus fucking chrisst I can't believe I ever stood up for him as a coach.
TEAM • The Trail Blazers outrebounded the Nets, 51-49. Portland has outrebounded its opponent in four consecutive matchups and eight of its 12 games overall. • Portland’s 51 rebounds mark the sixth time this season that the team has hauled in 50+ rebounds. That is the most games of 50+ rebounds in the league. • The Trail Blazers committed 17 personal fouls, the second-fewest they have committed in a game this season. • Portland’s 11 turnovers were the third-fewest they have had this season.
PLAYER • Jusuf Nurkic finished with 21 points (10-20 FG, 1-2 FT), five rebounds and one assist. It was Nurkic’s third game of 20+ points this season. • Damian Lillard had 19 points (7-16 FG, 1-5 3-PT, 4-5 FT), nine rebounds and six assists. It is the first time this season that Lillard has led the team in rebounding • Damian Lillard’s consecutive made free throw streak ended at 49, the third longest streak in franchise history. The franchise record for consecutive free throws made is 57 (Damon Stoudamire, Jan. 14 – Feb. 16, 2005) while Lillard’s career-best is 54 (March 8-24, 2016). • CJ McCollum recorded 17 points (6-16 FG, 3-6 3-PT, 2-2 FT), three rebounds and four assists. McCollum has made three or more three-pointers in eight games this season, the most on the team. • Evan Turner had 11 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Turner has scored in double figures in two consecutive games and seven times overall this season. • Shabazz Napier finished with 11 points, three rebounds and two assists. Napier has scored in double figures in consecutive games for the first time this season. • Pat Connaughton scored six points (2-7 FG, 2-4 3-PT) and tied his season high with three assists. Connaughton has made 19 three-pointers through 12 games this season, more than he made in all of the 2016-17 season (17). • D’Angelo Russell led the Nets with 21 points (8-19 FG, 3-9 3-PT, 2-5 FT) and nine assists. It was Russell’s fifth game this season with 20+ points.
Pathetic. Utterly pathetic. We had all the right things to win this game tonight. Fire. Terry. Stotts. Tonight.
Losing to the Nets is like playing ball with your shoe laces tied. Oh well...We have another set of 10 games to wake up.
