Postgame Notes – February 6, 2020 Portland 125, San Antonio 117 Game No. 52, Home Game No. 25 TEAM • The Trail Blazers won their fourth straight game at Moda Center, matching their longest winning streak at home this season (four, 12/10/19 – 12/21/19). • Portland shot 18-of-37 from the three-point line (48.6%) while the Spurs shot 10-of-28 (35.7%). The Trail Blazers made nine three-pointers in the fourth quarter on 10 attempts. • The Trail Blazers outrebounded the Spurs, 50-39. • Portland scored 120-plus points for the seventh time in its last eight games. The Trail Blazers are now 14-4 when they score at least 120 points. • The Trail Blazers outscored the Spurs in the paint, 48-44. • San Antonio made 25 free throws (of 28, 89.3%) while the Trail Blazers made nine free throws (of 12, 75.0%). PLAYER • Damian Lillard led the Trail Blazers with 26 points (9-20 FG, 3-9 3-PT, 5-5 FT) to go with two rebounds and 10 assists. It was his 15th double-double of the season, matching the most double-doubles he has had in a season in his career (2015-16). • Hassan Whiteside finished with 17 points (8-10 FG, 1-3 FT) to go with a season-high-tying 23 rebounds, one assist, one steal and four blocks. It was his seventh game with 20-plus rebounds this season, matching the most games of at least 20 rebounds in a season in his career (2016-17). • Carmelo Anthony recorded 20 points (8-15 FG, 4-7 3-PT), eight rebounds and four assists. It was his 10th game this season with at least 20 points. • Gary Trent Jr. scored 18 points on 6-of-7 three-point shooting while matching his season high with four assists in 24 minutes off the bench. He has scored in double figures in seven of the last nine games. • CJ McCollum had 19 points (8-19 FG, 2-6 3-PT, 1-2 FT), three rebounds, six assists and one block in 30 minutes. • Anfernee Simons added 10 points (4-7 FG, 2-4 3-PT), one rebound and one assist in 15 minutes off the bench. It was the 24th time this season that Simons scored in double figures. • Trevor Ariza had seven points (2-8 FG, 1-4 3-PT, 2-2 FT) and six rebounds in 27 minutes. • Trey Lyles scored a season-high 23 points (9-11 FG, 4-6 3-PT, 1-1 FT) to go with 10 rebounds and two steals. It was his first double-double of the season and the 10th of his career. • DeMar DeRozan added 21 points (6-16 FG, 9-9 FT), seven rebounds, six assists and three steals in 37 minutes. His three steals tied his season high (five times). • LaMarcus Aldridge finished with 20 points (9-23 FG, 2-6 3-PT), eight rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block in 36 minutes.
HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS On Gary Trent Jr.’s performance… “He’s been playing with a lot of confidence. Obviously he shot the ball well, that’s an understatement, he’s taking what’s there. Defensively he’s giving great effort. I think he’s always been a shooter, but I think the strides he’s made defensively are really noticeable, and he had timely shots, and I thought our passing to get him those shots were pretty good.” If leaving Gary Trent Jr. in over CJ McCollum was because of CJ’s five fouls… “No, taking CJ out was for five fouls, but leaving him in was because he was playing well. I didn’t want to screw it up.” On what Coach Stotts likes about Gary Trent Jr.’s defense… “I think he’s giving good effort, mentally he’s locked in, he’s gained experience in how to guard perimeter guys close to goal or off ball screens. I think the biggest thing for me and the challenge for younger players is mentally anticipating seeing things. When people talk about effort, it’s more than that, I think it’s just being aware on every possession, not falling asleep, or being caught on the play. You gotta lock in on the task at hand.” On Hassan Whiteside’s performance tonight… “Hassan was terrific. I thought the defensive job he did with LaMarcus (Aldridge) in the second half, LaMarcus had 4 points, and what he had 16 in the first half. He took away the middle, contested shots, obviously the rebounding, but he had a terrific game.” On Hassan Whiteside’s increase in minutes… “Well, it depends on the matchups, tonight I matched his minutes with LaMarcus (Aldridge). LaMarcus played 36, he played 36. It depends on the matchup.”
DAMIAN LILLARD How would you describe Gary Trent? “He’s giving us something to be excited about. He’s been consistent – how he’s competing on the defensive end, how he’s finding his spots to be effective and making shots. He’s somebody that has to be accounted for, especially on a night like tonight. He came up big for us. In a big game, he came through and made big shots and really impacted the game.” Was there a moment where you saw him start to improve? “I noticed it when he came back to training camp. You could tell he came back with a better understanding of what he needed to do and how he needed to be to get real time. And then, I noticed it then and then I think I sat out the game in Milwaukee and that was when I got to – not being part of the game – I got to really watch and I was like, this dude is deflecting passes, chasing people all over the place, playing physical, he’s making shots, competing, knew the plays – he was executing the scouting report defensively. He was just really sharp in that game. Tonight, he had a game that would jump out to you more, but since I got to watch that game, it was so obvious to me that night that he was ready to be a rotation player.” Today was the trade deadline – this is your team the rest of the way, do you like this group? “Yeah, I like it. I think this is the guys that we’ve been battling with – the ups, the downs, we’ve been through it all together. We’ve managed to stay together and keep our eyes focused on making the playoff push. I think that’s a good thing because we’ve got everybody who’s been a part of it, everybody who’s seen the low moments and been around for us just showing up every day doing the work and now we’re starting to turn it around, so I’m more than happy with it. Obviously losing Skal, it’s tough. It’s always tough to see one of your guys go, especially with his situation where he’s hurt so it’s not like he can go somewhere and play his way into being kept or whatever. It’s kind of like out of his control. It’s tough, but like I always say, that’s the business that we’re in.” What do you like about the way you’re playing now? “I just think we’re competing. We’re playing smarter. We’re just really connected. I think that’s the best way to describe it – we’re connected on both ends of the floor. It’s not one quarter and then not the next and just off and on. It’s like we’re a lot more steady right now.” On Whiteside blocking Aldridge’s turn-around shot: “I saw it and I didn’t expect him to block him but he did. He’s the best shot blocker I’ve ever been around. I feel like he’s going to block everything. The only people I’ve seen block that turn-around is him tonight and Anthony Davis, those are the only two people I’ve seen even get to that or come close to it, so it’s impressive.” You’ve talked about Whiteside but the numbers he’s putting up: “I mean, it’s crazy. You want to see those type of numbers impact winning and I think that’s what he’s been doing lately. It’s been a big part of us winning games.” Every game is important but the Spurs are right there with you in the standings – did you talk about that? “Yeah we talked about it. We talked about it. I think we’re past the point of, ‘Oh it’s just another game’ and kind of shooing it off. Every game is important but games like this are even more important because they’re one of the teams that we’re fighting for that spot with. It was a tie breaker game. We’re not playing them no more after this. And it also just gives us some separation from them. They lost two coming in here and it would be great for us to give them a third and also us, like I said, a game ahead of them and also with the tie breaker. So it was a huge game and we talked about that.” Coach Popovich came over to you after the game – what did he say? “He just said, ‘You just keep getting better, you just keep getting better and keep getting better.’ And I told him, ‘That’s the only way I know.’ That was pretty much it, and good luck the rest of the way.” Does that mean anything coming from him? “Yeah, it meant a lot because I think when you’re just consistent, when you show up every year and you’re consistent, people have always said about me, ‘Oh, he’s reached his peak or this is all he can do.’ I feel like year after year that’s what people say and I just think what I say I do in the summer, I come out and I back it up and then people have to address it. Okay, he really did improve. The fact that he acknowledged that, that means something to me and it tells me that I’ve got the remedy, I’m doing something right.”
Gary Trent Jr. Thoughts on the game tonight? We have a nice rhythm going, got to continue to work on my craft and stay with it. How would you describe your offseason? I stayed in Portland, didn’t go anywhere else. Just in the gym every day, sometimes twice. Its just a testament to the hard work. I’m nowhere near where I want to be as a player and I’m going to continue to work. Can you explain your confidence and how its growing? Whenever you get out there and make plays, knock down shots, you get in a good groove and feel good about yourself and continue to keep pushing. Thoughts on your defense? When you’re a young player in this league, when you touch the floor you got to be able to defend. Last year they told me to work on my defense and I took that to heart and watched some of my defense with the coaching staff to continue to get better at it. What have you learned on the defensive end? Just knowing your angles, knowing players tendencies, and really having heart. Not letting anybody scoring on you and take it to heart when somebody scores on you and just have pride in yourself. Trade deadline has passed, and this is your team now, do you think this is a playoff team? For sure. We work hard and we don’t come into any game thinking otherwise. We come in to win the game and if we play hard and stay together, we should achieve our goal. How has getting game reps helped your confidence? Getting game reps, you can practice all you want and do all the conditioning in the world, but you can’t simulate a real game. Knowing angles, knowing players tendencies, knowing what they can do helps me out there.
HEAD COACH GREGG POPOVICH What did you think about their three-point shooting? It was Damian (Lillard) that made that happen. I mean, it was a good day, until Damian broke it open with his basketball play. He got through the double-teams and split pick and rolls and found his teammates and they knocked down shots. He was the generator, he did a great job in that respect and they knocked them down, that was the difference in the game. What did you think of Trey (Lyles) game tonight? Trey is getting more and more confident, understanding how we want to play and feeling his oats a little bit and understanding that he has to be aggressive. Not worrying about the outcome of his shot or a bad play, just go play the game with all you got and he’s starting to do that, so it helps us.
DEMAR DEROZAN What it would take to turn this road trip around “Consistency, I think we played well for three quarters. Got to be consistent for 48 minutes, as close to 48 minutes as possible. It’s going to take consistency.” Approach on a 10-11 day road trip “I mean we need to take it day by day regardless. I don’t think we all look at it as a whole that it’s a long road trip. We have a couple games on the road, then we get a couple of days, and then we get back to it. Can’t really look at it like it’s a burden or anything. It’s just another road trip. Whether it’s two games, six games, or whatever it may be, we just need to approach it one day at a time. We need to play the same amount of road games every year, 41.” Thoughts on the trade deadline “I don’t get caught up on all of that stuff. It doesn’t cross my mind. Obviously, you see what goes on, but I don’t really indulge in it.” Does it give you a confidence boost that a move wasn’t made “Yeah, we are who we are. That’s all we got to worry about. Before the trade deadline and after, I doubt anyone carried any weight about it. We still got to figure this thing out.” Did you get a call from the front office regarding the trade deadline “Nah, I don’t get caught up in that honestly. I just go out there and do my job with whatever is handed to me. I don’t get caught up in all of that.” Thoughts on Trey Lyles performance “I thought he played well. He was aggressive, his shot fell, and that’s the Trey that could play like that every single night. He’s had an unconventional journey so far, so you need to find your stability and a place where you can flourish.”
