Postgame Notes – February 1, 2020 Portland 124, Utah 107 Game No. 50, Home Game No. 24 TEAM • With 124 points, Portland scored at least 120 points for the sixth straight game. It is the longest such streak in the NBA this season and ties the longest such single-season streak in franchise history (Nov. 11 – 23, 1990). • The Trail Blazers shot 47-of-92 from the field (51.1%) while the Jazz shot 40-of-94 (42.6%). Portland has shot above 50.0% from the field in five straight contests, the first time it has done so since Jan. 4-13, 2010. • Portland outrebounded Utah 51-37, recording 50-plus rebounds for the second time in three games. • The Trail Blazers outscored the Jazz in the paint, 48-40. • The Trail Blazers outscored the Jazz 17-12 in transition. PLAYER • Damian Lillard led Portland with 51 points (17-29 FG, 9-15 3-PT, 8-8 FT), two rebounds and 12 assists in 36 minutes. Lillard set the NBA record with six consecutive games recording at least six 3-PM, and he is the 10th player in NBA history with at least four games of 50-plus points in a single season. • Damian Lillard scored 50-plus points for the third time in the last six games and the fourth time this season. He has averaged 48.8 points and 10.2 assists over that span. • Damian Lillard became the fourth NBA player since 190 to record at least 35 points and 10 assists in four straight games (Archibald, twice; Harden; West). The four straight double-doubles mark the longest streak of Lillard’s career. • Hassan Whiteside finished with 17 points (7-10 FG, 3-6 FT), 21 rebounds and three blocks in 35 minutes. It was his 37th double-double of the season, and sixth game with 20 or more rebounds. • CJ McCollum had 14 points (6-14 FG, 2-4 3-PT), three rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block in 34 minutes. • Carmelo Anthony recorded 15 points (5-15 FG, 1-3 3-PT, 4-4 FT), five rebounds and one assist in 32 minutes. • Anfernee Simons had seven points (3-6 FG, 1-1 3-PT), five rebounds and three assists in 24 minutes off the bench. • Nassir Little had seven points on 3-of-3 shooting (1-1 FT) and one rebound in 13 minutes off the bench. • Donovan Mitchell paced Utah with 25 points (11-21 FG, 3-6 3-PT), two rebounds, four assists and one steal in 32 minutes. It was his 25th game this season with at least 25 points. • Mike Conley (9-20 FG, 4-6 3-PT) and Bojan Bogdanovic (6-11 FG, 5-9 3-PT, 5-5 FT) both scored 22 points for the Jazz.
HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS On overall thoughts about tonight… “I told the team I thought that’s as good of a back to back as you’re gonna get. To go to LA, under the circumstances of that game and get a win, and then come back here, get back here at 2:30 in the morning, and beat a good rested team, that’s a hell of a back to back. I’m proud of the way we’re playing. Don’t ask me about Dame (Damian Lillard), I’m out of superlatives, don’t ask me to explain it, don’t ask me what I think, write what you want, because it’s fun to watch, and he’s playing exceptional basketball.” On winning four games against playoff contention teams… “It means we’re playing well. Obviously, Dame (Damian Lillard) leads the charge. I know there was a point in the season where everyone was keeping track of our record against teams with winning records, and I haven’t seen that stat lately, thankfully. We’re playing good basketball and we’re beating good teams. We’re doing it at the right time, we got in a hole and we gotta get out of it. We gotta keep it rolling.” On Damian Lillard’s game outside of scoring… “I’ve said this a few times in the last week, he’s being unbelievably efficient with his scoring, but I think because of that his passing is being overlooked. They threw double teams at him, he made the right reads whether it was to Hassan (Whiteside) on the roll or Gary (Trent Jr.) in the corner, just reading the game, and obviously scoring kind of sets all that up, but he’s making good reads, he’s not forcing things, he’s playing the game the way it’s meant to be played.” On Rudy Gobert being 1 for 4 from the field… “Gobert, obviously his strength is at the defensive end. I think Hassan (Whiteside) did a nice job one on one, but I think you have to credit our pick and roll defense, our perimeter guys did a good job on pick and rolls and didn’t really allow him easy catches. A lot of the times he’s beneficiary of other actions, and they do a really good job of finding him in those actions, whether it’s (Donovan) Mitchell’s pick and rolls, or (Joe) Ingles’ pick and rolls, or dribble hand offs, we did a nice job handling those actions that didn’t allow Gobert to have those catches.” On Hassan Whiteside’s performances being overlooked… “I don’t know who’s overlooking. He had 30 and 10 last night, right? Whatever he had, no he’s not being overlooked, maybe overshadowed a little bit, but I think everybody’s realizing how well he’s playing, and I think he and Dame (Damian Lillard), earlier in the season it was kind of a different type of chemistry on the pick and roll, they’ve obviously figured some things out, he’s just been playing good basketball as well, I would never wanna overlook a guy who’s looking at a 17 and 21, I don’t anybody’s overlooking that.” On keeping the Jazz’s top scorers in check… “(Donovan) Mitchell and (Rudy) Gobert are worthy All Stars for sure, but I think Joe Ingles is really important to their team, and last year when we played them they beat us a couple times early, we made some adjustments with him, I think he’s kind of like the straw that stirs everything. If we can limit his effectiveness, as a playmaker and a scorer, that bodes well.” On how Coach Stotts led the team through a tough first half of the season… “We had some tough losses, and I’m not gonna go through them, but I think we all know we lost some games we probably shouldn’t have, but in this league I don’t know that there’s ever a game you shouldn’t win or lose, but I really credit the guys that we have, they never quit, they never hung their head, and we still have a long way to go, I said this about Dame (Damian Lillard), he leads the charge, he never gives in, he’s positive with his teammates, and encourages them, and challenges them, and I think that permeates the whole team.”
DAMIAN LILLARD This was a good win: “It was. It was a good win. I think how we’re competing, how we’re playing together and our energy, the swagger that we’ve got about us – we’re sustaining it. We’re picking up quality wins against playoff teams, really good teams. We’ve just got to keep rolling.” You’ve talked about putting in extra work but this is to a different level – what do you think is allowing you to have this stretch? “Just the same stuff I’ve said – just sticking to my routine. I don’t think people understand how is easy is once the season gets going, you start wearing down and get tired, traveling, you’ve got your personal stuff you’ve got to deal with – it’s easy to get sidetracked from your routine and start to take this day, and not do every little thing. I’ve just made a conscious effort to do those things even when I don’t want to do it. Going at night time to get a light 25 minute shooting workout, make 100 free throws, do ball handling for 15 minutes, going back at night – getting up and getting in a cold tub even if we don’t have shoot around instead of putting it off. Making sure I do it, making sure I find two and a half hours to get a massage and get treatment and get stretched and make sure I’m sleeping, laying down and not on my feet, staying hydrated. I mean, just all of those things really play a part and also just the peace of mind, really actively working on my faith and being true to that and having a clear mind. Also, coming into these games and these situations mentally prepared and telling myself, like I’m going to come in and make stuff happen. I think all of those things, you put it together and you have a chance to do what’s happening.” What you’ve done this week – it seems like a different vibe on the court even, how would you describe? “It’s a good feeling. I think it’s just coming together. I think that’s the best way to describe it. We’re getting healthier, we’re starting to figure out what works for us. I think Trevor has made a huge difference for our team on both ends. Caleb has come in and made a huge difference. Gary Trent is having a hell of a season and he’s been consistent and he’s taking the challenge and showing up and giving us a lot. Nas has been in the gym a lot – getting up a bunch of shots. I see him a lot more just shooting, shooting, shooting, shooting, shooting – doing ball handling, I see him working on those things and when you do that and take the time, regardless of we’re losing games and everybody’s saying, ‘Oh the Blazers’ – talking about us, we’ve been able to just keep working and keeping our heads down. It’s starting to show. We’ve been able to make it come together and keep doing it over and over against good teams.” What Whiteside’s been doing has been overlooked; have you been able to appreciate what he’s been doing amid this stretch? “I mean, of course everybody’s going to look at the crazy numbers and what I’m doing because that’s a story, but you don’t win the games scoring 50 points. We’re scoring 130 points, he’s getting 20 rebounds, covering up for our defensive mistakes – five, six, seven blocks. And not just him – like I said, Gary Trent, even CJ being really unselfish in seeing that I’m rolling and allowing it to happen, not trying to force his hand and he’s just allowing it to happen. Trev, what he’s doing defensively and offensively is not showing up on the stat sheet always but it’s effective and it’s impacting our team so I think maybe outsiders might overlook it, but we watch film and we talk and we know what’s going on with our team.” On 12 assists and only 1 turnover, with as much attention as you get from defenses, how about that part of your game? “I think just scoring the ball well and teams just trying to get more aggressive and make it harder for me, and I’m just making the plays that I see. When I see them being aggressive, I’m not backing out, I’m continuing to be aggressive against it instead of giving into it and cause a reaction, just pick out the help side defenders and the guys that are pulling over and crowd the paint, and I’m just moving the ball to where the help is coming from and guys are making shots and making the right plays, so it’s pretty simple.”
TREVOR ARIZA Another game like this from Lillard – what’s impressed you most? “The consistency – I think that to consistently score like this and be this effective in passing and scoring – it’s pretty unbelievable.” He gave a lot of credit to you just now for coming in and changing the team – what does that mean to you? “Oh man, it’s humbling. I appreciate it, but they already had their way, the way they do things. I just try to come in and fit in the best way I can and sometimes it takes a piece or a bit of shaking up to make the team gel the right way, but they already had what they have – I mean, I just try to put my little two cents in.” Does the chemistry of this group impress you? “It does. It’s definitely changed some of my views and approaches in the way I approach the game too.”
HEAD COACH QUIN SNYDER On Damian Lillard He’s playing at a level where you have to react to him with what he is doing. We just didn’t execute the things that we were wanting to do. There were times in the game where we did, and they still managed to score at some points. Our execution defensively has to be better, it has been, and I think it will be. But that level of focus when you are doing something that is less comfortable, less habitual. When you play a player like that, you have to bring the level up to that. He scores, he scores but tonight he scored, and he had assists, he was able to do what he wanted. I believe we are better, and we have to demonstrate it. Whether we have to work on things, there’s always things you can work on. But right now, we feel that, I think our team feels that and we will respond. On how often he has seen a player play like Damian did tonight It’s unique, not very often. I’m sure you can point back to things tonight that resonates because it just happened to us. You have to try to do something to slow him down, and right now his ability to attack was better than us tonight, than our ability to execute. On their struggles with defense recently I don’t know that it is effort as much as it is execution. It requires more mental effort to execute, particularly when you are doing something that’s not habitual, that you haven’t done. I think the key right now to play a player like that, those are the situations that present themselves. We played against a great player, and it can come as an adjustment on a hot night. When someone is doing something and all the sudden you have to adjust. To do those things where you like to think you worked on it, be better at it a thousand times, that opportunity doesn’t present itself and then it requires guys to be more connected, more committed and more urgent. That’s the stuff that you need to kind of link you together in order to defend a guy like that. On if stopping early runs requires better execution When there are runs like that, there’s usually some common threads. There are usually some things, like in this case they scored 30 every quarter. A couple stretches we came out playing very well defensively. We had a stretch where we had some open looks and I think we were seven of twenty-one in the paint and at the rim. So that doesn’t make it easier, because now you’re putting that pressure on your defense. But you’re going to miss shots, at least at certain points of the game. That’s when your defense has to be more sound. On Mike Conley I think you saw Mike Conley, and that’s who he is. He’s worked hard to get healthy, there’s still some things for him from a minutes standpoint that we have to work through because we want him to continue to be healthy. But you saw a guy, sometimes when you go through a lot, you get to point where you say heck with it, I’m just going to play. I thought even early in the game, they were trying to post him up and he battled. That’s who he is, and also who he is, is a guy not thinking about himself right now. He’s thinking about the other guys in the locker room and what we can do to be better.
DONOVAN MITCHELL How do you get out of this rut defensively “Get ready for practice on Tuesday and come prepared to lock in. We made some mistakes that we don’t normally make and we’ll go from there.” Is there panic coming off a 4th straight loss “No, but we need to figure it out. We need to have a good practice when we get back. The biggest thing is that it’s too easy right now. It’s a complete 180 from the team that we were about a week ago. We have to have a good practice and really lock in to fix that. Otherwise it’s going to be a (expletive) all-star break.” Is it important to get the rest that you have for the next couple of days “I mean we’re not going to have that when we get back from the all-star break. We’re going to have the same stretch. They had a back to back, they played last night, and late. We just have to able to figure it out, and we will. We’ll come into practice and be ready. We’ll do what we need to do to be ready against Denver.” What are you not doing defensively “Talking, communicating, and we have to do it together. It’s nothing selfish, it just happens. Offense isn’t the problem. I think for us, just find ways to communicate and talk.”
This statement by Ariza seems to be said a number of times by players when they come here. This is what i call a win for the organization as a whole. Winning philosophy and culture in general.
That's an interesting answer; wouldn't expect that from a guy who has been on some great teams and been around so long.
One thing I noticed the last several games is how much more physical we are on D and even O. Melo and TA are seasoned vets that know how to play real tough and it has shown, especially on offense. They are much more physical than Mo and AFA on the floor.
Like Ive said before Stotts is a well respected players coach, and in the game today you better have a coach that lets you create and shoot the ball. Players like the motion offense big time but the defense cannot be ignored either.
