Exclusive GAME# 53: BLAZERS @ CELTICS - FEBRUARY 4, 2018 - Official NBA Quote Book

Discussion in 'Portland Trail Blazers' started by SlyPokerDog, Feb 4, 2018.

  1. SlyPokerDog

    SlyPokerDog Woof! Staff Member Administrator

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    POSTGAME NOTES

    (39-15) Boston Celtics 97 vs. (29-24) Portland Trail Blazers 96
    Feb. 4, 2018 – TD Garden
    Game 54, Home Game 29


    Team

    • Having trailed by as many as 16 points in the second half, Boston’s 97-96 victory marks the 10th time this season that the Celtics have overcome a double-digit.
    • With today’s 97-96 victory, the Celtics improve to 15-5 against Western Conference opponents this season.
    • Boston limited Portland to 96 points, marking the 28th time it has limited the opposition to less than 100 points this season (2nd in NBA).
    • The Celtics improve to 26-0 when limiting the opposition to less than 44.0% shooting (POR: 39.6% FG).
    • Trailing by 16 points at halftime (54-38), the Celtics opened up the first 7:00 of the third quarter on a 22-7 run. Boston outscored Portland, 31-19, in the period.
    • Boston outscored Portland by 12 points in the third quarter (31-19), marking the third straight game in which the Celtics have outscored the opposition by double-digits in that period. Boston has outscored its opponent, 103-59, during that three-game stretch.

    Individual

    • Al Horford finished with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting (2-2 3-PT), marking the ninth time this season that he’s scored at least 20 points (first since Dec. 27 at CHA).
    • Al Horford (22 points) has matched his season high of six consecutive games with at least 10 points (3 other times). Horford is averaging 15.7 points on 48.0% shooting (11-21 3-PT) during this six-game stretch.
    • Al Horford (22 pts, 10 reb) recorded his second game with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds this season (12/27 at CHA).
    • Jayson Tatum scored 17 points, marking the fourth straight game in which he’s produced at least 15 points. Tatum is averaging 19.8 points during that four-game stretch.
     
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  2. SlyPokerDog

    SlyPokerDog Woof! Staff Member Administrator

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    Post-Game Quotes
    Date:
    February 4, 2018
    Home Game: # 29

    Vs. Portland Trail Blazers


    Portland Trail Blazers

    Head Coach Terry Stotts

    Re: No question

    “Tough loss. I thought both teams ended up making a lot of plays down at the end. Obviously, it could have gone either way, but (Al) Horford made a well defended shot and (the Celtics) had the ball last.”

    Re: Where did this get away from you, as far as the big lead

    “The second quarter. (The Celtics) made a lot of good shots. We didn’t finish very well. Our offense in the second quarter really bogged down. I thought mainly because we had a lot of shots we could have finished, but didn’t. That gave (the Celtics) momentum to get back in the game. Fourth quarter game on the road can go either way.”



    CJ McCollum

    Re: What happened late in the game when (the Celtics) were making shots

    “They executed well down the stretch, made some tough shots. Credit to them for battling back in the third quarter. Down the stretch they seemed to match every basket… we would score, then they would score. Then (Al) Horford made a tough shot at the buzzer.”

    Re: Did you let up at all without (the Celtics) having, obviously, so many rotation guys and (the Trail Blazers) being up sixteen

    “We are in no position to let up. We’ve lost to a lot of different teams throughout the season. Teams who are towards the bottom of the NBA. We approached this the same way we approach every game: trying to win and trying to execute. Credit to (the Celtics) for getting one at home.”
     
  3. SlyPokerDog

    SlyPokerDog Woof! Staff Member Administrator

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    BOSTON CELTICS

    Head Coach Brad Stevens, with Marcus Morris


    Is this (Morris’ appearance in an Eagles jersey, with Stevens in a cut-off Celtics hoodie and Patriots hat) a bet?

    Stevens: “No. He’s not that smart, right? You don’t want to do that.”

    Morris: “Taking all bets…”


    So why are you dressed the way you’re dressed?

    Stevens: “Football game to watch. And we’ve had a lot of back-and-forth discussions, so I thought I’d bring Marcus along. It helps that Al (Horford) made the last shot; it helps it feel better.”

    Morris: “A lot better.”


    Re: Last play

    Stevens: “Wanted it to end the game so we could go watch the Superbowl.” “We shouldn’t have fouled (Damian) Lillard. We talked about that in the – in the locker room. But guys played so hard; obviously that’s a tough decision to make on the fly. And then we had a play set up, they used their foul, and then we got it to Al in the middle of the floor, which has usually been pretty good to us.”


    Re: Drawing up multiple plays in case Portland fouled

    Stevens: “We have some other go-to’s if they use the foul-to-give.”

    Morris: “I called ‘game’ when Al hit the turnaround J, just so you know.”

    Stevens: “Because if it didn’t go in, it would’ve been game anyways. …Al feels a lot like (Tom) Brady today, right?”

    Morris: “I guess.”

    Stevens: “Thanks for being a good sport.”

    Morris: “Just make sure that I take this picture. Post it after the game.”

    Stevens: “There we go. There we go. Good. Anything else? Like, you guys all have places to be.”


    Re: Half-court execution down the stretch

    Stevens: “It was pretty good. Our defense gave up some plays, but our offense played with some real purpose down the stretch. Hit timely shots. Semi (Ojeleye) missed a couple threes and then hit the huge corner three, and then Al had (Jusuf) Nurkic on him on one possession, he was guarded by (Al-Farouq) Aminu most of the day, and they guys did a good job recognizing to get it back behind the three-point line. We made enough timely shots; we weren’t great on offense all day. We were really fortunate to win.”


    Re: Halftime adjustments making the second half so different from the first

    Stevens: “We just needed to do what we set out to do better. So, that’s usually the case. Sometimes there’s small tweaks, small things to do, but we just need to do – we needed to do our jobs better, and I thought we did a pretty go job of that.”


    Was that a Patriots reference?

    Stevens: “I think it’s every – every coach ever, but they’ve done a pretty good job of – of following that plan to a T.”


    “…You guys are too serious.”


    Are you going to start cutting off the sleeves on all your suits now?

    “If the NBA would let us, I would wear – I was hoping that we would figure it out and go to a much more casual look on the sidelines. But, maybe our – the Nike reps can push the NBA on that a little bit.”



    Terry Rozier III



    How did you get this win after being down?

    “It was just great for us to come out on top. We never stopped fighting. We never stopped believing. Obviously we were down at halftime. We came here, coach had a nice little message for us and we went out there and played hard from the jump.”


    What was the message?

    “Just the things that we wasn’t doing in the first half. We were giving CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard too much room, things like that, still encouraging. That’s what he’s great at. Just encouraging us, and making sure we don’t get down on ourselves like that. So it was a great message for us, and we came out there and played hard.”



    Al Horford



    Re: The last shot

    “Coach called a play for Jaylen (Brown), and as he’s calling it he’s saying, ‘Keep the ball, Keep the ball.’ Go score. They read it perfectly because I wanted to hand him the ball and they stayed very tight to him. So once that happened I was very aggressive, went to a go to move. It was like, ‘I’ve got to find a way to score.’ Took my time. That’s a shot I work on a lot, and it felt good that it went in.”


    Re: Being the one who usually sets up those plays, and then having to shoot it.

    “I think that teams are aware of that too. We were hoping, or I was hoping, to get Jaylen a look. They made it clear from the beginning they were taking that away, so I just made a play for the team and I’m glad the shot went down.”
     
  4. KingSpeed

    KingSpeed Veteran

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    where are the blazers quotes???
     
  5. Strenuus

    Strenuus Global Moderator Staff Member Global Moderator

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    The 2nd post...
     
  6. KingSpeed

    KingSpeed Veteran

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    thanks. I scrolled that by accident. less than usual
     
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  7. SlyPokerDog

    SlyPokerDog Woof! Staff Member Administrator

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    That's all the Celtics sent me.
     
  8. jlprk

    jlprk The ESPN mod is insane.

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    I'm impressed. Do you know Bill Russell?
     

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