Postgame Notes - March 23, 2018 Boston 105, Portland 100 Game #72 • Home Game #38 TEAM • The Trail Blazers were 18-12 against Eastern Conference opponents this season, marking their best record against the East since the 2014-15 season (20-10). • Portland outscored the Celtics in the paint, 58-32. • The Trail Blazers outscored the Celtics on the fast break, 17-8. • Portland recorded eight steals and ve blocks while the Celtics had ve steals and four blocks. • The Trail Blazers forced the Celtics into 13 turnovers while turning the ball over eight times them- selves. PLAYER • Damian Lillard recorded 26 points (9-22 FG, 4-11 3-PT, 4-4 FT), three rebounds and eight as- sists. It was the 17th straight game that Lillard scored at least 20 points, extending the longest streak of his career. • CJ McCollum scored 11 points in the fourth quarter, nishing with 26 points (12-22 FG, 1-4 3-PT, 1-1 FT), seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. • Al-Farouq Aminu nished with 16 points (7-12 FG, 2-6 3-PT), 10 rebounds and ve steals. It was the seventh double-double of the season for Aminu while his ve steals were one shy of his career high. • Al-Farouq Aminu is the 10th player in the NBA to record 16-plus points, 10-plus rebounds and 5-plus steals in a game this season. He is the rst Portland player to record that line since LaMar- cus Aldridge (12/19/14 at SAS). • Al-Farouq Aminu has scored in double gures in ve straight games, marking his longest streak of the season and matching the second-longest streak of his career (six, 3/28/17 - 4/6/17). • Jusuf Nurkic had 11 points (5-9 FG, 1-2 FT), seven rebounds, one steal and one block. • Maurice Harkless nished with eight points (3-7 FG, 1-2 3-PT, 1-2 FT), four rebounds and one assist. • Marcus Morris led the Celtics with 30 points (9-13 FG, 5-6 3-PT, 7-7 FT) and two rebounds. It was the second time this season that Morris has scored 30-plus points. • Jayson Tatum scored 10 points in the fourth quarter and nished the game with 13 points (4-11 FG, 5-6 FT), six rebounds, four assists and two steals.
HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS “Well I think my two major disappointments tonight were giving up 38 points [in the fourth] at home is tough and obviously we didn’t shoot the ball well from three. That made a difference. We win each of the first three quarters and we should play well enough defensively to hold them off but obviously our poor shooting affected that as well.” Was Turner’s back bothering him? “Yes… The first half, he was out for the rest of the first half and then he got treatment at halftime.” What do you think happened defensively in the fourth? “Well they got off to a good start. We went under on some screens, they made shots, they went 5 for 6 from three. I mean Morris hits a big shot. Some it obviously, credit to them that they made shots. 5 for 6 from three in a quarter is going to make it a pretty good quarter but I think it’s more how they got them, going under a screen or losing a man or whatever that is. They executed well and got some shots at the rim so it’s a combination of things. They got some extra possessions, they got some offensive rebounds.” How would you describe offense in the fourth? “It was alright. It’s hard to evaluate - when you play better defense you get some run-outs. They’re one of the best defensive teams in the league. They make it difficult for you in the half court. I thought because we defended well in the first three quarters, it gave us opportunities to run and not have to play against their half court defense most of the night.” Aminu has had double figure scoring in five straight, how important is he down the stretch? “Everybody’s important. We’ve kind of evolved. One or two guys may have a night. Certainly Dame and CJ, we rely on them. Farouq’s been on a good roll. To be honest, I was really pleased more with his defense than anything. I thought his matchup with Horford was a tough matchup and I thought he defended him well. We knew they’d probably go to a smaller lineup with Morris and Horford at 4-5 and I wanted to keep Farouq on Horford. So Farouq is a very important part of what we do at both ends.” On upcoming road trip: “It’s going to be a tough road trip. It starts with Oklahoma City and obviously that game has a lot of importance.” DAMIAN LILLARD What happened in the fourth quarter? “I just thought we let our guard down a little bit. We had a good game going defensively, we weren’t making a lot of shots but we were making enough shots to go along with the way we were defending. We had a 10 point lead to start the fourth and I just thought we let our guard down. They started to make some shots. Their bench got into it and they got going. They’re a team – they’ve been playing shorthanded all year. They’ve beat some good teams. They beat us in Boston and you can’t give them that life. I thought once we had them down 10, we should have been in the fourth quarter looking to be the first team to make a run and make them call the first timeout. But they got themselves going to start the fourth. They got rolling, they started moving the ball to each other, guys were making shots, started making some tough ones, getting the extra possessions, going to the line. We just let one slip tonight.” Is there a tendency to have a letdown after a win streak dissolves in the next game? “I wouldn’t say a letdown. I think any time you can have a streak of 13 games, that means you did a lot of good things. A team is focused and you also need a little bit of luck, you need things to go your way. When that I guess is up, you lose the game. We lost a tough one to Houston. You’ve got to be able to deal with the times when it doesn’t go in your favor. I think tonight, you’ve got to give a lot of credit to the Celtics. They made a lot of hustle plays and guys stepped up and made big shots and we didn’t.” On losing this game ahead of big game Sunday vs. OKC: “It’s a huge game. We knew before this game ended that every game from here on out is a big game. Even though we let the game slip, we didn’t play – giving up 38 or whatever we gave up in the fourth, you’re never going to win the game like that, especially not a close one. But we’ve just got to keep fighting. We’ve got to keep working. I think we’ve given ourselves enough of a cushion to where we can move on to the next game. We’re not looking at it saying, alright it’s the end of the world. Obviously it’s a loss that we didn’t want, but it’s not the end of the world.” On game vs OKC being against team behind you in the standings: “It’s a good opportunity. You go in there and you can go up a game. It’s a big game and it’s going to be a tough one. Like I said, every game to the finish is important.”
What did you think about Jayson Tatum starting the fourth?I thought the start of the fourth was great offensively and defensively. I thought they were forcing us into some tough looks in the first 3 quarters, and finally we slowed down in the fourth, and I think we scored 40 or 38. We were really moving it, and I thought we played really well. Especially with the game on the line. I thought the execution was really good. On Marcus Morris’ performance:You know, that’s been him. As he’s continued to feel better… I think physically he feels as good as he’s felt, and he’s comfortable playing in our system, and we need him to score. So, if you’re a basketball and your job is to score, that’s a pretty good job. It’s something that everyone wants. Have you reached a point in the lineup where you are confident defensively?I thought we were okay at times. I thought we were really locking in to Lillard and McCollum. Obviously, we made some mistakes on some of their actions. I think we can guard when we sit down and really choose to guard, and that’s with whoever is available. So we need to make sure that we’re working the system. What did the guys do so well that they were able to score at the end tonight?When we needed to score at the end we got great looks every time down. It’s not easy to do. They went small so they could switch more. After Al hit that 3, popping against Nurkic, they went with Aminu at the 5, and we just tried to spread out and do the best we could to have an opportunity at the rim. When we’ve got Morris at the 4 and now at the 5, it’s a lot of shooting at the 4 and the 5. Was Tuesday night a learning experience on execution at the end?I mean we’re 70 some games in. We’ve executed well in November at the end. I don’t know if it’s much of a learning experience or just one of those things. How remarkable was Jayson Tatum tonight at just 20 years old?He’s really good. Well, there’s a lot of guys that are turning 30 who can’t do what he can. He’s got a natural talent. He’s got an ability. That’s why he was picked where he was picked in the draft. Certainly, it’s come quicker than some would assume. We’ve needed him, and we’ll continue to need him. What did you see out of Guerschon tonight? You mentioned he will be playing the next games.I thought he was very good, very active, very tough. The reason I said he needs to play is because he’s skilled. He spaces things, spreads out the floor for the other guys. How nice is it to start this trip off with a win? It’s really hard to win. Last year, we won in Portland and got beat in Sacramento and Phoenix. Then, won in Utah. It’s really hard to win on the road. It’s hard to win on these trips, and we have to play great on Sunday.
AL HORFORD On the fourth quarter: “Marcus Morris on the bench when the fourth quarter started said, ‘if we’re able to get off to a good start I feel like we can get back in this game and win it’ and we were just talking about it on the bench, guys literally came out and set the tone from early in the fourth. Shane (Larkin) leading the way and just all the guys stepping up from that first group. I think that made the difference.” On Marcus Morris: “Well I think a couple things. One of them is he’s healthy and the other is that he’s just more confident. He’s playing very assertive and he’s playing great right now. Really good rhythm, big shot after big shot tonight, so happy to see him having another big game.” On if this game gives them confidence: “Well we know what we have. The Blazers are a good team, but it is encouraging for our group. For us it’s just to make sure that we keep working and understand that when we commit on the defensive end, we’re a tough team to beat.” MARCUS MORRIS On his play of late: “Just staying aggressive. My team is doing a great job of finding me and in the post and just moving the ball and knocking down open shots. Just working hard to keep it going offensively.” On his three late in the fourth quarter: “We called a pick and roll for Al (Horford), the play broke down, he kicked it out and I just made a play.” On his message on the bench in the fourth: “We just had a small conversation. I could see Shane really picking the pace up, so I was saying if we get this down and we go back in there, we’ve got a great chance to win this game and it happened just like that. Al came up with a big rebound at the end, (Terry Rozier) has been playing clutch in the fourth quarter all season long, he hit a big three for us to put the icing on it.”
