MIAMI HEAT · HEAT is 20-38 all-time against the Trail Blazers, which includes a 9-20 record in games played in Miami. HEAT has dropped four straight games overall against the Blazers but have still won four of the last six meetings here at the AmericanAirlines Arena. · HEAT led by 16, 70-54, with 8:30 to play in the third quarter. After scoring 60 first half points, the HEAT scored just 35 points in the second half. They were outscored, 32-16, in the fourth quarter. · Made 13 three-point field goals tonight and have made at least 10 threes in 16 of the last 17 games. Over the last six games, the HEAT has shot 42.6 percent (81-for-190) from beyond the arc. · Made eight threes in the first quarter, most in a first quarter this season and tied for the second most in any quarter this season. They also made eight threes in the fourth quarter of their last game, Monday at Memphis. · Second consecutive game in which the HEAT had seven players score in double figures (fourth time this season). · Recorded a home sellout (19,600) for the 291st consecutive regular season game and for the 347th consecutive game including the postseason WAYNE ELLINGTON · Scored 21 of his season and team-high 24 points in the first half. He entered with 8:32 to play in the first quarter for Goran Dragic (two fouls) and scored 15 points in the first quarter. · It is his second highest scoring half of his career, He scored 23 points in the second half against the HEAT on December 28, 2015, while with Brooklyn. · Made his first seven shots from the field, including his first six from three-point range. He tied a career-high with seven three-point field goals tonight (fourth time in career). · Tied a HEAT franchise record for three-point field goals made in any half tonight with six in the first half. He is the first HEAT player with six threes in a half since LeBron James did it on March 18, 2014 at Cleveland. · His team-leading 70 threes this season is tied for the third-most by a HEAT player through the first 27 games of a season in franchise history, trailing only Damon Jones (80 in 2004-05) and Tim Hardaway (76 in 1998-99). Glen Rice also made 70 threes in the HEAT’s first 27 games in the 1994-95 season. JAMES JOHNSON · Recorded his 12th career double-double with 10 points and a team high 10 rebounds tonight. He also added a game-high eight assists, narrowly missing his first career triple-double. He has two double- doubles this season (also at Denver November 3) JOSH RICHARDSON · Scored all 11 of his points tonight in the first quarter, matching his highest scoring quarter this season (third quarter vs Charlotte). PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS · Trail Blazers snap their five-game losing streak and improves to 7-5 away from the Moda Center. With tonight’s comeback win, they are 1-1 on their current five-game road trip. · Trail Blazers held the HEAT to just 35 points (11 field goals) and 34.4 percent shooting from the floor (11-for-34) in the second half, outscoring them, 52-35, over the final 24 minutes. · Damian Lillard scored nine of 18 points in the fourth quarter (five points over the final 1:40) after scoring just nine points through the first three quarters tonight (2-for-8 from the field). In his last appearance in Miami last season, he scored 49 points and made nine threes. · C.J. McCollum scored a game-high 28 points, his 16th 20-point scoring game this season. Including Shabazz Napier (nine points), the Blazers guards scored 55 points tonight. · Zach Collins made his first career start tonight in place of Meyers Leonard. He jumped center tonight against fellow Gonzaga draftee Kelly Olynyk. They are two of the three Gonzaga players in the league this season, along with Indiana’s Domantas Sabonis. HEAT’s Next Game: The HEAT travel to Charlotte to play the Hornets at the Spectrum Center on Friday, December 15, 2017 at 7:00 pm EST. Trail Blazers’ Next Game: The Trail Blazers travel to Orlando to play the Magic at the Amway Center on Friday, December 15, 2017 at 7:00 pm EST.
MIAMI HEAT HEAD COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA Post-Game Interview December 13, 2017 On the turn in the game: “It was a possession game going down the stretch. You’re not guaranteed when you get up, that you’re going to be able to stay up 15. That’s a very good team, that’s a desperate team. They lost five straight before that. It really came down to better, more intentional, purposeful execution going down the stretch.” “They executed and made plays down the stretch. We had opportunities. We didn’t quite get the shots that we wanted to. We missed some free throws. They made theirs and that’s the way it went.” “We had opportunities in a possession game. However, you get to that point, as long as you’re in a position going down the stretch, you just want that opportunity to make plays at home.” “[We had] a couple breakdowns, actually four breakdowns in a row against great players. [Damian] Lillard, you almost hate seeing him have a pedestrian box score, stat line going into the fourth quarter. You know he’s not going to sit back and not put his fingerprints on the game going down the stretch, and he certainly did that.” On Justise Winslow’s injury: “It’s just a knee strain. We’ll reevaluate it tomorrow. It was one of those games where we had to play guys big minutes, but so did they and at the end of the day I don’t think fatigue was a factor.” On Wayne Ellington’s play and the six threes in the first half: “That’s Wayne. He’s ignitable. He’s going to run his patterns full speed, every single time as if the play is run for him. Like a great wide receiver, you’re going to have to run 25 patterns as hard as you can, then you may only get the ball four times, but he’s going to run every single one. Even the ones where he’s potentially a decoy.” “We say it all the time. The ball finds energy. The ball was finding him, and he took care of the rest. It’s a shame to have that kind of offensive output off the bench and then up at home and we weren’t able to close it out, but you have to credit Portland. That’s not their first rodeo in a close game on the road. They’re pretty clear on what their game is going down the stretch and who’s going to get the ball and how they’re going to execute to get the shots they want.”
MIAMI HEAT PLAYERS December 13, 2017 Part I Dion Waiters On the game: “We played 46 minutes of good basketball. I feel like down the stretch calls didn’t go our way, but we just have to do a better job of playing 48 minutes all the way through. I feel like we did a great job defensively, their guys made shots. They made big-time shots. I have to do a better job coming out with that aggressive mindset, getting everybody else involved also. I just have to come out with the mindset where I set the tone. That’s the main focus.” On playing without Tyler Johnson and Justise Winslow: “We miss those guys. We’ve got to have the next man up mentality. There’s nothing we can do, just hope they get healthy. Rotations, I think coach did a good job trying to maintain that tonight. There are no excuses. We should have won this game. That’s the bottom line. We’ve got to do a better job down in the end, including myself. We’ve got to make our free throws and things like that. That can change the game also.”
Justise Winslow On leaving tonight’s game with an injury: “[It was my] left knee.” “It is just feeling tight. I’m not sure how I did it.” “It just feels tight in the knee.” “It got increasingly tight before the game and I tried to give it a go, but I didn’t want to take away from the team.” On whether he’s concerned about it: “Not really. We’ve got good doctors.” On tonight’s game: “We just have to do better closing out games. I wish I could’ve been out there or at least on the sidelines to help out a little bit.” On his plan going forward with his knee: “I’ll just come in and let the doctors look at it and go from there.”
Portland Trail Blazers HEAD COACH terry stotts Post-Game Interview December 13, 2017 On holding the HEAT to 35 points in the second half: “Well, Ellington didn’t get loose. That was the main thing. It was hard to evaluate the first half defensively because of the way Ellington went off. However, we limited him to three shot-attempts in the second half and the one he made was well contested. We had good presence at the rim. We pursued on pick-and-rolls. We rebounded well. We did all the things you need to do in order to defend well.” On if Damian Lillard was hobbled during the game: “I don’t know. You would have to ask him. I know he gets banged up during the course of the game.” On what the HEAT did to limit Damian Lillard early on: “Yeah, they’re aggressive. I’ve said this before, he’s trying to get his teammates involved. When they trapped pick-and-rolls, find the roll-man. He’s trying not to force it.” On Al-Farouq Aminu: “I think he’s confident with his three point shot. His versatility defensively was important for us. Both he and Ed [Davis] played well together defensively. It was a tough matchup with James Johnson because of how they use him. I thought him and Ed together made the difference for us in the fourth quarter.” On his lineup late in the game: “I didn’t necessarily plan on doing that. I thought Shabazz played well. Having one more ball-handler with their pressure [helped]. Obviously, he can shoot the ball. He made some nice drives. In a game like tonight, it turned out to be effective.”
CJ McCollum On the importance of the win: “That was a game we needed to win coming off five losses in a row. We had to do whatever it takes to come away with a win.” On production up and down the bench: “That’s what it is going to take to be successful long-term. Other guys are going to have to step up and take advantage of minutes, take advantage of certain opportunities. Chief [Al-Farouq Aminu] been shooting the ball extremely well all year. Shabazz has been playing well all year. Obviously his minutes have fluctuated throughout the year, but when he’s been called upon he’s played well. Pat gave us some minutes. Ed was great rebounding the ball and doing some different things in the post, making his free-throws, like he’s been doing all year. He’s been huge for us and that’s what it is going to take for us to have success. I’m just happy that we were able to come away with a win.” Damian Lillard On not taking many shots early: “I came out, my intention was to be aggressive. On the pick-and-rolls I always listen to the other team’s bench. I’m listening to the calls they’re making, the kind of urgency they’re making them with. I could tell they were trying to show me a lot of attention. I had a big game here last year and I knew it right away. I was just trying to make the right plays just to make them loosen up. I was happy that CJ was able to get it going. Chief hit a few threes. Zach was getting to the line and he scored a few times just from that pocket-pass. It ended up being one of those games where the pass was there. Down the stretch, I knew I would have to get aggressive.” On how much the win was needed: “I think you know the answer to that question. We’ve lost five in a row. That’s tough for anybody to deal with. We needed one to get going in the right direction. This wasn’t a game that we came out and made every shot and everything went well. We had to go get it. That’s usually how it is when you are trying to get things going in the right direction. So we worked for it. Slow start defensively, but I think they had 35 (points) in the second half. That’s a big-time defensive effort. You don’t want to go under .500. That’s why it was really big for us to stay over .500 and get going in the right direction.” Ed Davis On how much the win was needed: “It felt good coming off a five game skid. Tough losses. Felt like we let Houston slip away. We always want that winning taste. We’ll take it game-by-game. Enjoy this win tonight and focus on Orlando tomorrow.” On the difference late in the game: “We turned it up in the fourth quarter. We were down 10 at half, but we knew we were still in this game. We’re supposed to be down by like 20. Coming in with that and still having that confidence to chip away, chip away, chip away and get this one. That’s what we did tonight. We got it done on the defensive side and I think we outscored them 32-16 in the fourth [quarter]. That was a hell of a quarter for us and I think we took care of business.”
MIAMI HEAT PLAYERS December 13, 2017 Part III Wayne Ellington On the game: “These games are tough to swallow. We played about 43 minutes of Miami HEAT basketball. Then we kind of let those guys catch momentum and put us on our heels. We have to get better at that. We have to get better at finishing it out.” On only playing with seven players: “It is tough. Those guys (Tyler Johnson and Justise Winslow) are major pieces to what we do, but at the same time we don’t make excuses. We have the next-man-up mentality. We had to do what we had to do and it is not an excuse as to why we lost.” On scoring 21 points in the first half: “When you make some shots in the first half, they are going to stick to you a little bit more in the second half. We expected that, well I expected that. They weren’t going to let me get as many clean looks off. That is the way the game goes.”
Seems that Stotts is still not sold on Napier, still thinks there are special circumstances and games where he should play. I think he is our best small defender (and it's not close) and should be a regular rotation player.
