HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS On Plumlee’s game: “You know, he obviously had a lot of bounce. I thought he had a very good game 2 in LA, but he was all over the place. Obviously the rebounds speak for themselves. His playmaking, his running into screens – he had an exceptional game. The rebounding was the biggest thing because that’s been kind of a weak point for us in the series, but his passing, he’s been doing that all year for us.” On attitude from team tonight: “I think it was there in the first two games. We shot the ball a little bit better playing at home. I thought we competed the first two games, we just didn’t necessarily play well, but certainly we were a determined team tonight. It helps to be at home. But I wasn’t disappointed with our effort or demeanor in LA, we just didn’t necessarily play that well.” How important was Lillard’s start: “The start that he got off to, I think it lifted everybody up because he didn’t shoot the ball well in the first two games and the fact that he got us going just encouraged everybody like we’re going to be okay. As far as the other things, his leadership – I’ve spoken about this before – his leadership in the huddles, not letting up, encouraging guys when he wasn’t in the game, allowing CJ to have the game that he had. Just a lot of different things that you need from your best player.” What was thinking behind Harkless guarding Paul? “Well we started him in game two, we started him on Chris Paul and primarily it helped take away his post ups. He’s an effective post-up player. I thought we did a decent job and Chris still had 26 and 9. But I thought some length on him, being able to switch some pick and rolls. They have a couple pick and roll plays that we were able to switch with him and Chief, so he’s an exceptional player. Again, having some length and being able to switch pick and rolls was primarily it.” On bench defense and defense as a whole: “I was pleased with our defense overall. They had 88 and I thought our defense was pretty consistent throughout the night, whether it was our bench players or our starters. We didn’t have a real lull defensively other than maybe a little bit in the third quarter when they made a run. The fact that we were able to stem the tide defensively, it’s not like we had a great offensive night, I thought our defense was pretty solid and kept us in a position to win the game.”
MASON PLUMLEE On emotions and reaction after game 1 and going into games 2 and 3: “The immediate reaction was disappointment, not only the score but really how the game went. But then after watching the film, we saw a lot of opportunities as a team and we made adjustments. I thought game two was much better than game one even though we lost by a large margin. We’re figuring it out.” On mindset being in a playmaking position – was there anything different? “Not necessarily. I think one difference was Mo [Harkless] played along the baseline and that presented a lot of easy buckets for us. I would say that was the only difference between this game – and really last game, he was at the three point line and he hit a couple threes, so his versatility is a big part of what we’re doing.” On individual performances following game 1: “I think just watch the film. The film really shows a lot and you make adjustments. I think the biggest thing is DeAndre impacted the game so much on the glass that we wanted to do a better job keeping him off the offensive glass, whether it be tap-outs or second chance points right at the rim. So taking care of those things. Then all the offense and that stuff, it just came.” On having more rebounds than DeAndre Jordan and as many assists as Chris Paul: “Probably an awkward stat line. The guys on the bench were giving me a hard time for not getting ten points. The game is different through adjustments and stuff, they leave certain things open and they take other things away. So really they put me in a good position by them trapping the guards, really I have an advantage every time I catch the ball so then it’s just making the right play.” On playmaking opportunities this season: “Well [Coach] Stotts is putting me in a position to make a lot of those passes and in position to make a lot of decisions. His offense lends itself to a lot of movement and a lot of guys cutting off the ball so he’s really given me a major opportunity here.”
HEAD COACH DOC RIVERS On how much of their 40.9% shooting was caused by Blazer’s defense: “I thought they did a great job. I thought they were way more physical than us. I think the ball pressure got into us. They sped us up. I don’t think we handled it very well, but I thought they had a great defensive plan. I just thought they were the more physical, tougher team tonight for sure.” On Blake Griffin seeming out-of-whack tonight: “He just had a tough night, ya know? Again, you don’t miss three months of basketball and come back and be great. So there’s going to be nights where he’s going to struggle probably throughout this run. Like I said before the playoffs, there’s nothing you can do about it. I’m happy to have him back… It’s rare when you’re trying to work your guy in and get him ready for the playoffs but that’s what it is, and there’s nothing you can do about that. I just want him to stay aggressive… When their offense is going, you can always do other things. I thought he tried to do that. At the end of the day, I tell our guys every day ‘what happens when they take your best thing away? What else can you do to help the team?’ and I thought he did other things to try to help.” Clippers are usually good down the stretch. What changed down the stretch after their 4-point lead in the fourth? “Our execution was bad tonight. You’re right, we are really good down the stretch, and tonight we made some really interesting plays so I can’t wait to look at it.” On if he was okay with their focus tonight: “Yeah, it wasn’t the focus. It’s so easy when you lose, its focus, that’s the easy way. [The Blazers] played hard. They were tougher. They destroyed us on the glass. They ran harder. They got to their spots quicker. They got to the loose balls faster. They played hard so they deserve to win the game. I really thought they deserved to win the game.”
JAMAL CRAWFORD On Damian Lillard’s impact on the game: “His leadership for them really set the tone I thought. He was taking charges, he was all over the place, flying all over the court but him being very aggressive early definitely set the tone for them and the rest of the team followed.” On Mason Plumlee’s game: “I think obviously those two players (Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum) are going to do what they do. Sometimes strategically, what we’re doing we didn’t plan for him to get nine assists and 20 rebounds but we wanted other people to make plays and tonight he did that, so congrats.”
TEAM • With tonight’s win, the Trail Blazers are now 77-37 (.675) all-time at the Moda Center in the postseason (38-23 in the First Round). • Trailing 85-81, Portland closed the final 3:31 of regulation with a 15-3 run. • The Trail Blazers outrebounded the Clippers, 56-44. • Portland’s 96 points is its most in a game this series. The Trail Blazers scored 49 points at halftime, their highest scoring total through two quarters this series.
PLAYER • With 21 rebounds, Mason Plumlee is the first Trail Blazer to record more than 20 rebounds in a playoff game since Sam Bowie (4/20/85). Plumlee is the first player to record at least 20 rebounds in the 2016 NBA Playoffs. • Mason Plumlee (21 rebounds, nine assists) is the first Trail Blazer to record 15+ rebounds and five or more assists in a playoff game since Marcus Camby (4/6/11 at Dallas). • Mason Plumlee is the first NBA player with 20+ rebounds and nine or more assists in a playoff game since Kevin Garnett on April 21, 2004 (MIN vs. DEN). • Mason Plumlee’s 21 rebounds represents a new career postseason-high (prev. 10, 4/20/16 at LAC). It’s also the first time in his career that he has hauled in 10 or more rebounds in back-to-back playoff games. • Damian Lillard scored 32 points, marking the fourth time that he has scored 30+ points in the postseason. Only three Trail Blazers ever had more (Drexler-14, Aldridge/Porter-6). • Damian Lillard’s 32 points ties a playoff career-high (4/27/15 vs. Memphis). Lillard has now scored at least 14 points in all 19 of his career playoff games. • Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum outscored LAC’s starting backcourt (Paul/Redick), 33-15, through the first two quarters. Lillard and McCollum were the first two players to score in double figures tonight.
Per ESPN - The Blazers are the 2nd team in NBA history to win game 3 of a 1st round series after losing the first two by 20 or more points.
I saw those guys on the big screen. They had massive black eyes with shirts that read 'Clippers Equipment Managers'. Classic.
