Trail Blazers Head Coach Terry Stotts: Opening Statement: “It was almost like last game we played them. We got out to such a great start, shot the ball well, they made a comeback and took the lead. And it was a great game. It’s hard to explain the ebb and flows of a game like this.” (On what this win means for the team…) “Well, to win it in the fourth quarter, you know our defense, we held them to 20 [points] in the fourth quarter, that’s big for us. I think defensively in the fourth quarter, that was really important for us. It’s been our achilles heel lately, so hopefully that will reinforce them.” (On what defensive plays stood out…) “I don’t know. We’re down 15, there were a lot of them. Nas [Nassir Little] got called for a foul on a block, but it was a great energy play. We came up with a lot of loose balls, got some steals. But to be honest, there were so many there’s not one that stood out.” (On Hassan Whiteside’s play in the final seconds…) “Hassan played a terrific fourth quarter at both ends. He scored for us and finished around the bucket, he made his free throws, he was a big presence at the rim, deterred a lot of shots. He really made a difference.” (On Damian Lilliard’s and CJ McCollum’s performance…) “You know, you look at Dame [Damian Lilliard] and CJ [McCollum] really didn’t shoot. They both went 1-for-7 in the fourth quarter. But CJ had a terrific offensive night for the first three quarters. Dame made his free throws in the fourth quarter. But CJ probably got a little fatigued, but he had it going.” (On the fluctuation of the game…) “They had a lot of momentum, on the road against a team that plays really well here. Like I said, it was like last game. We had a 19-point lead and then they had a 19-point lead. I was really proud of the way we continued to battle because it’s easy to kind of fall prey to it when things aren’t going your way and I thought, hopefully that’s a big step for us.”
Trail Blazers Guard Damian Lillard: (On how important tonight’s win was…) “Super important. We took a loss to Sacramento than another loss at home. We got another long road trip, four games under .500, it was huge for us to not only get a win on the road to begin the trip, but just to start the trip the right way.” (On learning from last game…) “I think the same thing that we took from that game was just the fact that we give ourselves a chance when we are in those situations. We always have since I’ve been here and there was a lot of time. I think last time we cut the lead from like 18 in like five minutes or something like that. But tonight, it was like I remember the game being 91-104 or something like that, and I looked up and it was almost eight minutes maybe and I was like it’s going to be hard but we got a lot of time. We don’t have to be in a rush, we just have to calm down and not take crazy shots.”
Trail Blazers Forward Nassir Little: (On his dunk late in the game and the energy that followed…) “Yeah, CJ [McCollum] come off a pick-and-roll and I was coming behind rather than standing on the three-point line. I just cut it because CJ was going off so I kind of overreacted to that. When I cut to the basket and then just took off. That’s one of my rolls on the team is to bring energy, make those kinds of plays and get my team extra possessions and keep us in the game.” (On how they approached the opportunity they had tonight…) “Just playing extremely hard and just trying to do the little small things. You know what I’m saying, those kinds of things make a difference between winning and losing. So, that’s kind of how we approach it every night.” (On what the key was to winning tonight…) “I mean, down the stretch we got key stops, and I think honestly the biggest play of the game was when I tipped it off of Rudy [Gay] and got the extra possession and Rodney [Hood] got the and-one to put us up three.”
Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich: (On how the Spurs competed against the Trail Blazers…) “I thought we competed for more of the 48 minutes than we have in other games. By compete, I mean, is being as physical as we need to be and executing defensively and rebounding-wise as much as we need to be. I was really proud of them. They were lights out at the start of the game with threes. Everybody was hitting them. Went down by over 20 (points), I think, and the way they grinded out and hung in there was great. Down the stretch we had problems again like we have in a lot of games, but the tenacity and mental toughness they displayed was really impressive. I think they can sleep well tonight even though it’s a loss.” (On the coaching dynamic after his ejection from the game…) “I don’t have any idea what that means.” (On who was acting as head coach after his ejection…) “Timmy (Tim Duncan) was.” (On if there was consideration on making Becky Hammon the acting head coach and making history…) “I’m not here to make history.”
Spurs Forward LaMarcus Aldridge: (On the Spurs performance…) “We have to start somewhere. We got down, they were shooting a tremendous percentage, making tough shots. We stuck with it, so we have to be proud of that. I thought we gave ourselves a chance to win. They made some tough shots down the stretch, and made more plays than we did.” (On the Spurs upcoming road trip…) “We just have to build. It takes one to change the course, the momentum, and the feeling around here. We just have to get that one and build from there.” (On his personal performance in the third quarter…) “I was just trying to be aggressive, trying to give us some momentum. My shot felt good tonight, so I was just trying to take it when it was there, it was going in. I thought guys were trying to find me out there, I was just playing.”
Spurs Guard DeMar DeRozan: (On the coaching dynamic after Popovich was ejected…) “We just went out there and played. Whatever Tim [Duncan] called, drew up, we tried to execute it. For the most part, we have to play the way we played after Pop got kicked out the full game. Fighting against bad calls. So many things out there, we just listened, went out there and played hard.” (On the upcoming road trip…) “There’s nothing we can do now but be mentally, physically ready for the next game. This one sucked but it’s over, we have to get ready for the next one.”
