HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS “I loved the way we started the game. I think it was difficult to maintain that level throughout the game, but obviously a great start. I thought Dame did a really good job of getting us off to a good start in the second half, certainly they made their run. Booker made some tough shots. We fouled a little too much, but they’re a difficult team to play against. They’ve been very competitive in their last three games, so it’s good to get this one.” On Turner’s game: “Mostly I really liked his defense. I liked him defending Booker in the fourth quarter which was the main reason why I left him in. Certainly he made some shots but I thought his length and aggressiveness on Booker in the fourth was important for us.” On using small lineup with Aminu at 5: “I think Phoenix is a unique team so I figured it was a lineup that we certainly would get to tonight. Him and Moe at 4 and 5 certainly gives us a lot of flexibility defensively to switch. Chief plays bigger than what he’s listed at. He’s got good length, he has good defensive instincts, he rebounds the ball well, so I don’t think we give up too much on that. It was good, I think we’ve got to get offensively, just get more comfortable with the different combinations that are going to be out there, whether its Moe and Chief at 4-5 or whatever it is, we just have to get a better feel for some of the offense when Chief and Moe will have to become better screeners in those positions. I thought it worked out well and we’ll have it out there again sometime.” On reaching .500: “I’m glad that we did. It’s been a long season, a long journey but we’re not done yet. We’ve got Minnesota- Utah, Minnesota-Utah, so those are some tough ones coming up. But to battle back and be in the eighth spot was an accomplishment to a degree, getting back to .500 but again, our work’s not done
DAMIAN LILLARD On mindset after Suns cut the lead: “We know that just from watching film and knowing what kind of team they are, they’re going to keep playing hard. Obviously being out of the playoff race, all they have is to come out and compete and have fun. I think over the past few weeks they’ve done that. They’ve competed hard, they’ve stuck around with a lot of good teams. So when we jumped out, we were kind of disappointed that we allowed them cut it to ten by the half but we also knew that this is what they do. They just keep coming. We just had to keep our composure, continue to trust each other and I thought we did a great job of that even when they cut it to I think four towards the end. We continued to play the kind of game we needed to play, separated ourselves and got another win and that’s all that matters.” Is it an adjustment playing without Nurkic? “It was different. Since we’ve had him, we’ve run a different package of offensive sets involving him. Tonight it was more perimeter oriented, a lot more flares and just high ball screens to swing-swing action, playing to the weak side. It was a lot more of those type of things, more of the things we did with Mase, I guess than playing that way with Mase than the way we’ve played with Nurk. I think it kind of helps that we’ve had to play this way before. But obviously not having him out there is different, so it’s going to be an adjustment.” On reaction to Nurkic injury: “I mean, I was disappointed because I felt like having him out there made us such a better team. Just having the option to throw it to a guy on the block that could go get the bucket with a lot of confidence on the block, can make plays on the block, but also that rim protection. When guys get going downhill, I feel like he’s going to make it a tough shot at the rim every time or come up with a block. Not having that out there, in your mind, it’s like man, we’re not going to have that presence that he brings. But like I said, it’s going to take a collective effort. Guys got to step up and we’ve got to be able to lean on multiple guys to kind of fill that hole.”
HEAD COACH EARL WATSON On his team’s effort tonight: “The effort’s always good. Our young guys play hard, they play aggressive. We knew Dame (Damian Lillard) and CJ (McCollum) would come out and be dominant, which they were. They controlled a lot of the game. We thought our guys fought back and we had chances to cut it. They pulled away, we fought back again. It was a good game for our young guys to experience.” On the problems Portland presents his team: “It’s for every team. Dame Lillard and CJ McCollum are very crafty, they’re good and they can play off each other attacking the pick n roll. They’re highly skilled and they’re playing off the dribble with different ways of scoring. They’re playing at the rim, shots, jump shots and pull up threes. As we know, going down the stretch they’re tough to rebound, so it was a big loss they had at the center position. Other than that, Dame and CJ can keep them in games.”
DEVIN BOOKER On the difficulty of guarding Portland’s backcourt: “They’re really talented players. I mean every night in this league you go up against talented players but those two have great players around them that try to get them going, set really good screen for them. So it’s a talented backcourt in this league.” On if their team is improving: “We just have to get better about not making the same mistakes, we’re getting the chance to play and we’re treating it like they owe this to us but really we’ve got to treat this like it’s do or die time. It’s not many times that rookies get this many minutes or get the start so us as a young group have to come together and play like we’re trying to do something here.” On if they came ready to play or Portland was hot: “A mix of both, if you get down that much it has to be a mix of both. They’re on fire but at the same time we weren’t ready to play so we knew they were going to come and be aggressive. They’re playing to make that last playoff spot and we need to come out with that same fight, even though we’re not we need to fight like that every night.” On their mindset for the rest of the season: “We got to get ready for next year and I think that starts now. You can’t go in the summer and start the beginning of the season and just think that everything is going to be perfect. I think it starts now, get those young players developing and then mix in our veterans next year and then whatever we do in the summer and just be ready to go. It starts now.”
Postgame Notes - April 1, 2017 Portland 130, Phoenix 117 Game #76 • Home Game #37 TEAM • The Trail Blazers have won a season-high six straight games and nine of the last 10 overall • Portland has won five home games in a row, extending the longest home winning streak of the season. • The Trail Blazers (38-38) are back to .500 for the first time since holding a 12-12 record on Dec. 9th. • During the six-game win streak, the Trail Blazers are outscoring their opponents by 12.5 points per game (114.7-102.2). • Portland has defeated Phoenix in six straight contests. • The Trail Blazers reserves outscored their Suns counterparts, 38-19. PLAYER • Damian Lillard now has 1,902 points this season (31 tonight), a new career high and the tenth most by a Trail Blazer in team history. • Damian Lillard (31 points) has tied a franchise record with 26 games of 30+ points this season (Clyde Drexler, 1987-88/Kiki Vandeweghe 1986-87). He is sixth in the NBA in 30-point games this season. • Damian Lillard (31 points) has scored 30+ in three straight games against the Suns. He averaged 33.8 points per game against Phoenix this season. • CJ McCollum has scored 20+ points in five straight games against the Suns. • CJ McCollum is the first Trail Blazer to shoot 100% from the foul line in ten straight games since Damon Stoudamire (13, Jan. 18-Feb. 13, 2005). • CJ McCollum (5-6 3-PT) has tied Clyde Drexler for eighth on Portland’s all time list for 3-pointers. • Noah Vonleh (12 points, 13 rebounds) recorded his secound double-double of the season and reached double figure scoring for the eighth time this season (four times in last 10 games) • Evan Turner (18 points, 6-11 FG, 2-3 3-PT) had his highest scoring game since returning from a 14-game absence with a broken right hand. • Maurice Harkless (13 points) has reached double figures in consecutive games for the first time since Mar. 9-Mar. 11. • Al-Farouq Aminu (12 points) has scored in double figures in three consecutive games for the third time this season.
