HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS “It was really good to get the win. Defensively, in the second half, we did a good job even though they made their threes late and made a run and took the lead. I thought Evan did a nice job on Williams late in the game. I thought our offense was pretty solid for most of the game. It was good to get a win especially when we’re celebrating a championship team.” On winning despite being outscored by 21 at the three point line: “For whatever reason, we haven’t necessarily shot as well as we normally could. We’re doing a good job defensively from three but for whatever reason, teams are shooting the ball well from the three on the arc against us. They have all season. Tonight was no exception.” On ending game with 11-4 run: “I liked Evan on Williams, I thought that worked out well. We came up with loose balls and made a couple hustle plays. The one possession, the one time where it went back and forth and back and forth and neither team really got it and we finally scored, that was a momentum play for us.” Thoughts on Turner’s third game in the starting lineup: “Just look at the plus-minus, the starting lineup did well tonight when they were together.” “I think he’s feeling very comfortable initiating the offense. I think he gives us some versatility defensively. Dame and CJ are kind of playing the same way, but again, the main reason wasn’t the starting lineup, it was trying to change the rotation a little bit.”
DAMIAN LILLARD What was said in the huddle late prior to run late: “I mean, nothing was said. We just talked about what we needed to do better defensively. I think the play-calling just went in the direction of myself and CJ because down the stretch, we know that we’ve got to be able to score points and make plays and that’s pretty much what happened.” How did you feel team played? “I thought in spurts, we had moments where we could have done things a lot better. Some of our pick and roll, we made mistakes and Lou Williams got free, in transition a couple times he got free, but for the most part, I thought we played a pretty good game, mainly in the second half. A lot of those mistakes came in the first half. The little run they had there at the end of the game, but other than that, I thought we kind of made corrections and we did a much better job.” On third game with Evan Turner in starting lineup “I think it helps us get off to a good start offensively, having him out there and myself and CJ being able to move off the ball. In transition, if we get a stop, we’re able to take off and run the floor instead of one or the other having to handle the ball. I’m running down one side, CJ’s running down the other side. ET can score, he can make plays and the floor is open with both of us running on the wing. Mase is diving to the lane open, guys are open in the paint or guys are getting good looks. So it’s made our offense flow a little bit better.” And what is impact defensively? “Same thing, with Chief, guys like Chief coming in, Moe coming in, AC coming off the bench, it allows us that second group can sustain however we start the game or even pick it up based on the versatility and the athleticism in that group. So it’s a great balance with each group.” How would you describe the “I think it’s a great opportunity for us. I just asked somebody in the locker room when was the last time we won three games in a row and we had to look at a schedule to see. A big win in Boston, a pretty good win here tonight at home, and now we’ve got a good Memphis team coming in. That will be a good test for us and an opportunity for us to take that next step and do something we haven’t done in a while. I think we’re playing much better and I think that’s what we need to be focused on. Obviously we’ve got Golden State coming in after that. Like I said, it’s a great opportunity for us to show we’re getting it together.”
HEAD COACH LUKE WALTON Thoughts on the game: “I loved some of it, some of it’s eating at me pretty good right now.” Elaborating on what is “eating at him”: “The third quarter start. It baffles me that it’s still happening. We fixed it for a while, we really did. The energy we started the third quarter with, I know it was a long halftime or whatever but we had time to get a win. It’s one thing if you’re missing shots or whatever, that’s fine, you live with that but the energy’s not there. Then you see what we play like and how fun it is when we have that energy which the second unit brought, I mean they were great, they were great, other than that they ran out of gas at the end. The fight that they had and the way they were competing, that’s what’s exciting, that’s what drives us to get better. So there’s a lot of things in that game that I’m happy with.” On what made him happy: “The way we competed, honestly. The way that we didn’t give up because we’ve had a problem, really, of getting down and then kind of giving up and not really sticking together to try to get back up. I thought that we did a really good job of, for the most part, making the extra pass and trusting our teammate. There was a couple stretches where we didn’t do it and we really struggled offensively but for most of the game, especially with that second unit in there, there was a lot of great unselfish play happening.” On what swung the game in the Blazers’ favor: “We had a three point lead, it was 94-91. And then they had some guys that made some big shots, we had our chances. I’ll take those shots from Julius [Randle] every day. I mean those are great looks for him, in transition one of them, another one he had somebody going to his left, those are good looks. I think we need to, at that moment, when I think Lou [Williams] got a little hot and I told him ‘we’re not in here without you but if they’re going to start jumping you like that, we’ve got to trust to move it on and see who else is open on that side of the court.’ We had a great opportunity tonight, we had them down but they did a good job of closing and making plays down the stretch, it just wasn’t our night.” On possibly shuffling the starting lineup to bring some energy: “We’ve talked about it. It’s tough with injuries and the starting group really have been doing a really good job for a while. With injuries and whatnot, some other things, they kind of lost that mojo again. So it’s definitely something we’ve talked about, maybe we’ll get there but we’ll have some more discussions about it as we go on.”
JOSE CALDERON What do you think decided this game? We had a couple of missed shots. CJ and Lillard made a couple of big shots, and we couldn’t. I think, if you are going to lose, this is the way. I think we felt we played together for a long period of time, a few minutes were still a little bit off, but I think we competed. What happened in the third quarter? I don’t know. He [Coach Walton] mentioned there were a couple of minutes we had turnovers and they scored a couple of times, but it happens. So we were out there, they were playing really good, and that’s all I can say. Positives to take from this game: You have to play with the same intensity, same energy, and I think the effort was there. I think everybody who played was ready to help the team, and sometimes you make mistakes or make a shot, but I think everybody was ready after what happened the other day, and we have to do the same thing tomorrow.
NICK YOUNG What swung the game their way? Dame and CJ. They always make big plays down the stretch. We just came up a little short. Third quarter thoughts: The vibe was just a little off. The second unit came in and did their thing. We just got to keep finding a way to get a victory. What did you like about the team play tonight? We kept fighting. We got down, 13, 12, but we kept fighting. After losing by almost 50, we can’t lay our heads down. We just continue to go out there trying and trying hard.
JORDAN CLARKSON Why do you think you came up short? They made big plays, big shots. Towards the end we got a little stagnant. We have to learn how to finish games. Get those stops towards the end. We know those two guys make big plays at the end of the fourth. We just have to find a way to stop them. Explanation for the runs tonight? We are too heavily a guard oriented team, and we all can score, be explosive. Today came down to who could stop somebody. We didn’t come out with those stops at the end.
Postgame Notes - Jan. 25, 2017 Portland 105, L.A. Lakers 98 Game #47 • Home Game #21 TEAM • With tonight’s win, the Trail Blazers have now won a franchise-record 11 consecutive games against the Lakers (previous record: 8, 2/18/93 to 1/9/95). Portland’s 11-game winning streak represents the fourth-longest by any NBA team against the Lakers in their history. • The Trail Blazers have won six consecutive home games against Los Angeles, and are now 36-10 at home vs. LAL since the start of the 1993-94 season. • The Trail Blazers are now 9-4 this season when limiting their opponent to less than 100 points (5-2 at home). Portland has limited its opponent to less than 100 points seven times in the past 15 games, after doing so six times through the first 32 games this season. • Portland’s starting five combined to score 86 points on 50.8% shooting (LAL starters: 27 pts). Four Trail Blazers starters scored in double figures (five POR players total). • Portland forced 15 LAL turnovers, and has now forced at least 15 turnovers in eight of its past 13 games (three straight). The Trail Blazers forced 15 or more turnovers 10 times through their first 34 contests this season. PLAYER • Damian Lillard (24 points) has scored at least 20 points in each of his last seven games against the Lakers and in 13 of his past 14 contests vs. LAL overall. • Mason Plumlee (19 pts, 13 reb) has matched his career high with three consecutive double-doubles (two other times). Plumlee’s four straight games with 10 or more rebounds also represents a season high. • Mason Plumlee is averaging 14.3 points and 11.7 rebounds over his last three contests. • Damian Lillard has scored 20+ points in each of his last six games, and nine of his 10 contests since returning from a five-game absence (left ankle) on Jan. 5. • Evan Turner scored 11 points (5-10 FG), marking the fourth time in his past six games that he has scored in double figures. • Noah Vonleh recorded eight points (4-6 FG) and 10 rebounds tonight, and has now averaged 8.0 points (51.4% FG) and 7.2 rebounds over the last five games.
Well then you aren't doing a good job defensively from three! Fucking idiot. How has Drumpf not tapped him for a cabinet position?
Yeah they did not defend the 3 pt line well at all. However quite a few of the 3's occurred after a missed shot and we did not secure the rebound. That scenario happens way too often. Players leaving their man to track down the loose ball, or to run down court. Those are tough but it needs to be addressed.
I'm glad I am not the only person who was bothered by this quote. "for whatever reason". By this time in the season shouldn't a coach know what that reason is, both on offense and defense? Especially when it has been happening "all season".
