Postgame Notes – March 10, 2020 Portland 121, Phoenix 105 Game No. 66, Home Game No. 32 TEAM • Portland shot 45-of-89 (50.6%) from the field, while Phoenix was 35-of-87 (40.2%). It was the 20th time this season that Portland shot 50% or better from the field. The Trail Blazers are 16-4 in those games. • Portland earned its ninth win by 15 or more points. • The Trail Blazers recorded nine steals and nine blocks while the Suns had three steals and five blocks. It was the fourth time this season that Portland recorded at least nine steals and nine blocks in the same game. • Portland had five players score 16 or more points for the second time this season (Feb. 6, vs. SAS). It was the fourth time this season that four Portland players scored 20-plus points. They are 4-0 in those games. • The Suns handed out 26 assists to the Trail Blazers’ 20. It was Portland’s fifth-straight game with at least 20 assists. PLAYER • Damian Lillard led Portland with 25 points (8-17 FG, 5-10 3-PT, 4-4 FT), five rebounds, seven assists, three steals and two blocks in 40 minutes. It was his 50th game with at least 20 points this season, tied for the second-most in the NBA. His three steals and two blocks both tied season highs. • CJ McCollum scored 22 points (9-20 FG, 2-6 3-PT, 2-2 FT), to go with six rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block in 36 minutes. It was his 14th straight game with 20+ points vs. Phoenix, the longest streak against any opponent in McCollum’s career. • Trevor Ariza scored a season-high 22 points (7-12 FG, 5-8 3-PT, 3-4 FT), to go with six rebounds, one steal and one block. His five 3-PM were also a season-high. • Carmelo Anthony had 21 points (9-16 FG, 2-3 3-PT, 1-2 FT), three rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks. It was his 14th game with 20+ points, and fourth game with at least five assists this season. • Hassan Whiteside finished with 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting, 14 rebounds and two blocks. It was his 51st double-double of the season, good for the second-most in the NBA. • Devin Booker led Phoenix with 29 points (9-25 FG, 2-7 3-PT, 9-10 FT), six rebounds and nine assists in 36 minutes. • Ricky Rubio had 21 points (4-10 FG, 2-3 3-PT, 11-11 FT), six rebounds and nine assists in 36 minutes. It was his 14th game with 20+ points, and his 11 made free-throws were a season-high. • Devin Booker and Ricky Rubio are the first NBA teammates to each record eight-plus assists in at least four straight games since Portland’s Clyde Drexler and Terry Porter did so in five consecutive games (Feb. 26 – Mar. 10, 1991). • Dario Saric tied a season-high with 24 points (9-16 FG, 4-6 3-PT, 2-2 FT) to go with 11 rebounds and two assists. It was his ninth double-double of the season.
HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS Overall thoughts on the game… “Good to have a win. The last two [losses] have been very frustrating, we didn’t play very well. I liked our focus, our effort the entire game, the team bases have played well. I said before the game, they scored 140 against Milwaukee, they played really well against us. We need every win, that’s obvious, but I like the way we played.” On Damian Lillard’s defense… “Dame’s defense was good, I just thought in general everybody’s defense was good. It helped that we had a practice, Phoenix was fresh in our mind, we were able to go over some of the things that gave us trouble in the first game. Dame, Trevor (Ariza), Hassan (Whiteside) were locked in, I just thought it was a really good team defensively.” On what contributed to the team being more locked in tonight… “The game down in Phoenix, it was a slow start because we didn’t make shots. I mean the game got away from us obviously, but the slow start, I don’t think had to do with effort or focus. The fact that we really laid an egg against Sacramento, the fact that we had two days off, the fact that we had a practice, like I said they were fresh in our minds and we were able to go through some of the things that gave us trouble, so I think those things contributed to a good start.” On being the dominant team from three tonight… “Often times that’s the case, I don’t know what the stat is on that, but the three point line is often times the major factor.” If Trevor Ariza’s defensive role was tactical or self imposed… “That’s the way he plays. He takes the challenge, we put him on the best player, and he takes that challenge and takes a lot of pride in it, and I thought he made (Devin) Booker work for his points. Like I said, Trevor is a pro and he knows why he’s had as long of a career as he’s had, he makes shots and he can defend.” On the team being more equipped to switch tonight… “Well we do two kinds of switching. Just a straight switch and then another one that we’ll call a late switch, both of them are designed to hopefully limit three point looks, limit penetration, so I thought we just did it better tonight than we did it the other night.” If there’s extra pressure with Thursday night’s game against Memphis… “It’s not an extra premium, it’s a high premium. It’s obvious we have to beat Memphis twice, we got them twice, we have to beat them twice to get the tie breaker, we have to beat them twice to catch them, so anything I’d say would be the obvious.” On what playing in an empty arena would be like… “I don’t know. If that were to happen, I don’t know who would be in the building, I don’t know what the production would be, I have no idea. It hasn’t happened so I have no idea what to expect.” If the threat of the coronavirus has changed the feeling around things… “I think it’s just as different for us as it is for every American. I mean it’s no different for us than anybody else. We’re taking the same precautions, obviously there are things in place that limit contact, but things that we’re going through are the same things that every American is going through as far as precaution and concern.”
DAMIAN LILLARD What did you think of your defensive performance? “I thought it was a really good defensive performance from the start of the game – we was locked in to what we needed to do defensively. We went over a lot of stuff in practice yesterday. Coming off the game we had in Phoenix, it was obvious we wanted to come back and show a lot more consistency in a game that we really needed. We’re trying to make this final push for the playoffs, we had to have this one and that’s where it started at – on the defensive end.” On the importance of the game vs. Memphis on Thursday – do you talk about that? “Yeah, for sure. I think early in the season, you’re like, ‘Oh, there’s this many games – 40 games left, 50 games left.’ But at this point, they’re the team that we’re chasing. 16 games left and that would basically be like winning two games, so it’s a game on our home floor, a game that we’re more than capable of winning. We’ve got to just come prepared, come sharp and just get it done. That’s what it comes down to.” What adjustments did you make defensively after the past few games? “I think we adjusted our pick and roll coverages, where the help was coming from. We were just more present, showing help, making them play in crowds. Our communication was much better. We changed how we defended pick and rolls with Aron Baynes where he wasn’t getting wide open looks, he was shooting over a hand. I think that made a difference. We just weren’t as spaced out. It was an emphasis on us helping each other out, having a tight paint – box and elbows, closing out on shooters, making them put the ball on the floor, plays that they like to run, we scouted really hard. We didn’t really change our coverages, we just kind of hammered home yesterday in practice exactly what we wanted to do and what it should look like if we do those things and we executed tonight.” There haven’t been many games like last game where you don’t show up at home – how would you describe what it’s been like from that game to before this game internally? “It was a bad performance. I think sometimes you say we’ll flush this one, or on to the next game. But that just wasn’t one of those situations. I think it was good that everybody acknowledged that. We didn’t say, ‘Oh it was just a bad game, let it go.’ We talked about what made it a bad game, we accepted our part in it and why it happened and why it was unacceptable and didn’t let it carry over to tonight. As much as you don’t want to say, ‘Alright, it’s okay because we’re moving on’ – it is important to come into a game like tonight and get it done after a bad performance like that, but we can’t have it back. It does happen and it happened to us.” Ariza said a key was on court communication – do you feel like it was better? “It was better. I think part of communicating is just knowing what’s going on. I think having a good practice yesterday and really just going over our scouting report and what we wanted to do and how we wanted to be better on things over and over – what to call, what coverages we were going to be in, how we guard certain guys, certain actions that happen – just what we wanted to do. We were on top of that. We knew, so we knew what to say. I think when guys know what to say and are comfortable and are more proactive with it, it’s more effective.” What did you like most about what Ariza gave you tonight? “He did what he always does. Obviously on the defensive end but just the spacing that he provides us – he can knock down those open shots, he’s knocking down open threes, he’s slashing – he’s just a good basketball player. He has a good feel for how to play the game. So to do what he does defensively and then to come down on the offensive end and just find those spots, find those spaces and help us win on that end as well is huge for our team.”
Trevor Ariza What’s your philosophy in guarding a guy like Devin (Booker)? Just try not to let him get comfortable, crowd his space and try not to let him do things that he normally does and try to make him be as great as he can be or as great as he is every night. Did this game seem like a must win? Every game is pretty much a game that we have to win. We didn’t do a good job earlier in the season or post All-Star break as far as winning games that we should win so at this point every game is a must win. How familiar are you with Devin’s game? A lot, I watch a lot of basketball. Players that I happen to have an affection for, I watch them a lot more so Devin is a guy that I have watched since he has been in the NBA and I’m enlightened to his game so I know his game a little bit. What did you guys do to improve defensively compared to the last time you guys played them? We were more aggressive, we were the aggressor instead of letting them attack us. We communicated a lot more, we gave extra effort. We did all the things we needed to do to win. Would you say it’s unique for him to be face guarded or do you do that to a lot of players in the league? Usually, I’m guarding the guy that puts the ball in the basket so I just try to make sure they’re focused on me rather than what they are really good at. If I’m in their chest, if I’m touching them and aggravating them then they have to worry about that more so than putting the ball in the basket. How do you feel about the next game vs Memphis? I feel good about every game, every game that we go into I feel like we have a chance to win. What are some things you guys have done on the defensive side in this game compared to the last couple games? I think for us the most important thing is communicating and giving maximum effort on defense. When you are hitting shots and playing well offensively, I guess it’s natural to play harder on defense but for us when the offense isn’t clicking we have to figure and continue to stay locked in on the defensive end to give ourselves a chance to win.
HEAD COACH MONTY WILLIAMS On the Blazers and the strategy going into tonight “They went to a switch on Aron (Baynes) and we just didn’t handle it well. We tried to attack it, we missed a ton of shots, but we could have gone inside to exploit that. The couple times we did it, we either got a shot at the basket, or a shot on the weak side. They made shots, they shot 48% from three, and a lot of them were off the dribble threes. Those are the kind of threes you want to contest, but those are the ones you want the team to take. I’m more concerned about the lack of foul calling for our guys. I’m just like, over it. I’ve watched Book (Devin Booker) hit the floor over and over and over again. He doesn’t just complain for nothing. That was a pretty physical game would you say; there were 17 fouls called on them and 16 on us, in a 48 minute game. I have to continue to have discussions with the league because he and Ricky (Rubio), Ricky doesn’t complain like that. He gets smacked on the hand in the end and I’m being told that hand is part of the ball. I don’t get that, and that can be frustrating when you watch a guy take two hands and push your guy under the basket. That’s two games in a row that that’s happened against this team. That’s not right. That’s not me complaining, that’s me pointing out the facts. Two games in a row. We just have not gotten the kind of calls that I felt like we should of gotten. They made shots, they were physical, we were physical. There has to be a point where our players have to get some explanation as to why these plays aren’t being called. I think it’s frustrating for our guys.” On making a case to the league office “Just want to make notice and mention of it, so they know we are aware that our guys feel like they’re not always being treated fairly. I’m not saying the league is doing it on purpose but if it’s missed, it’s just missed. This was two games in a row, a guy took two hands and pushed our guys at the rim. That’s not a basketball play, so that can be frustrating when you’re playing as hard as we play, and you don’t get that call. Make no mistake about it, you look at their starting lineup they produced tonight. That was the difference. They shot the ball well from three, Carmelo (Anthony) made a bunch of twos and he made a couple of threes. For us, we attack, we get to the paint, when we have contact we want a chance to get to the line so we can set our defense up. I just didn’t think it happened and it could have tonight.” On Devin Booker in the 4th quarter getting hit with contact and slowly getting up “I just took him out, I got tired of watching him hit the floor. How many times could he hit the floor tonight without a call. You do the math, and at that point I think we were down 13 or 14. I just couldn’t watch him anymore, slowly get up off the ground.” Thoughts on Dario Saric’s performance “Dario’s been on both ends, he’s been solid for us. He’s efficient but he’s shooting the ball, he shot it well from three, he rebounds, I just want him to continue to play with that kind of confidence and swag. I have him playing some 5, and I’ve got him in blitzes and switching, so he’s expanding a lot of energy. He played 38 minutes tonight, that’s a bit high for Dario. We need it, when we have so many guys out we need it.” On having a couple days before the next game “We need it, we’ll take it. We needed a few days to heal up and get back to Phoenix so we can get back out on the road again. We need these days because we’ve had so many games back to back, even though they’re at home, they’re still back to backs. I’m playing guys so many minutes because of the injuries, so we need these days so we can get healthy.”
DEVIN BOOKER On the officiating If you talk to players on Portland, they probably feel the same way we feel. It’s just something you have to figure out and keep playing through it. Control what you can control, there’s no call that we can change right now. I said I hit the floor a lot tonight and other players did too. On the adjustments Portland made since last game I think they switched a lot of actions, instead of spinning and dropping to give Damian (Lillard) open threes. But that’s the game, it’s a game of adjustments and they made those tonight, but I think we still had opportunities to win, we just fell short. On Dario Saric He’s being aggressive, not being hesitant, and that’s what we need from him and that’s what we have told him. We have creators out there on the floor that will open up shots for people, especially with Ricky (Rubio) out there, and just shoot them. Don’t be shy, don’t be hesitant and just let it fly. It’s worked well for him, and he’s guarded well too in switches. He’s been reading on ball at a high level too. On the difference in crunch time They hit shots, they hit shots and we missed some. We kept fighting, and I’m proud of this team for that. That’s never been a question or a problem for us, if we’re going to battle to the end. I like to see that.
