Postgame Notes - May 9, 2019 (3) Portland 119, (2) Denver 108 2019 NBA Playoffs • Western Conference Semifinals, Game 6 TEAM • The Trail Blazers evened the series at 3-3, forcing Game 7 in Denver on Sunday. It will be Portland’s first Game 7 since a 2003 first round series against Dallas. • The Trail Blazers bench outscored the Denver reserves, 42-13. • The Trail Blazers outscored Denver in the paint, 42-32, and on the fastbreak, 10-7. • Portland outscored the Nuggets 32-20 in the second quarter. After trailing by eight points at the end of the first quarter, Portland held a four-point lead at halftime. • Portland had three players score 25-plus points in a playoff game (Lillard, McCollum, Hood) for the first time since May 11, 1992 (Ainge, Drexler, Porter). It was the third time in their careers that Lillard and McCollum scored 30-plus points in the same playoff game (first this postseason). • The Trail Blazers shot 46.1% from the field and 45.5% from the three-point line (15-of-33) while forcing the Nuggets into 38.4% shooting from the field and 37.5% shooting from beyond the arc (12-of-32). • Portland recorded five blocks and four steals while the Nuggets had three blocks and seven steals.
PLAYER • Damian Lillard led Portland with 32 points (11-23 FG, 6-13 3-PT, 4-4 FT) to go with three rebounds, five assists and one steal. He scored 17 points in the third quarter on 6-of-10 shooting (3-6 3-PT, 2-2 FT). It was his second game of 30-plus points this series and his fifth game of 30-plus points this postseason. • CJ McCollum scored 30 points (12-24 FG, 2-7 3-PT, 4-4 FT) to go with six rebounds and three as sists. He scored 11 of his points in the fourth quarter on 5-of-10 shooting (1-3 3-PT). McCollum has scored 30-plus points twice this series and three times this postseason. • Rodney Hood led the Portland bench with 25 points (8-12 FG, 3-4 3-PT, 6-9 FT) to go with four rebounds. Hood scored 10 points in the fourth quarter on 3-of-5 shooting (2-3 3-PT, 2-2 FT). He has scored at least 14 points in five games this series. • Zach Collins matched his postseason career high with 14 points (4-8 FG, 1-3 3-PT, 5-5 FT) to go with four rebounds, one assist, one steal and a postseason career-high five blocks in 29 minutes off the bench. • Enes Kanter scored six points (2-9 FG, 2-4 FT) to go with 14 rebounds and one assist. • Al-Farouq Aminu scored seven points (2-5 FG, 2-4 3-PT, 1-4 FT) to go with two rebounds and one assist. • Evan Turner had seven rebounds and seven assists while committing just one turnover in 19 minutes off the bench. • Nikola Jokic led the Nuggets with 29 points (10-15 FG, 2-3 3-PT, 7-8 FT), 12 rebounds and eight assists before fouling out in 37 minutes. It was his fifth straight double-double. • Jamal Murray scored 24 points (7-20 FG, 3-6 3-PT, 7-8 FT) to go with 10 rebounds, five assists and one steal. It was the first double-double of his postseason career. • Paul Millsap finished with 17 points (4-15 FG, 1-3 3-PT, 8-8 FT), six rebounds, one assist, three steals and two blocks.
HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS Coach Malone called Rodney Hood the MVP of this game; we’ve seen him not play the way he has the last few games, what has been responsible for the reemergence of Rodney Hood? “Well I can’t speak to before he got to Portland, but in this series, I think he’s bounced back from the Oklahoma City series. I think he’s had some favorable matchups and we’ve been able to take advantage of it. Obviously tonight with making threes –Oklahoma City, he struggled shooting the threes. He’s shooting with confidence and that just kind of snowballs. I think when you see the ball go in, especially with a scorer like Rodney, it’s just kind of snowballs a little bit.” How important was it for Collins to stay out of foul trouble tonight? “Well he had a big impact on the game. Obviously he played the whole fourth quarter, probably played the whole second quarter, so the fact that the first quarter, we fouled a lot and got them to the free throw line. The fact that he was able to impact the game at the defensive end and stay out of foul trouble, it’s important for him. I thought that the charge he took on Jokic was a big time play, he got some blocks, but if continues to do that, I think that’s part of his growth as a young player, is learning what he can do and what he can’t do and I think the playoffs kind of helps him as well because it’s not called quite as tight probably as during the regular season.” When Lillard got going it seemed like the picks were set higher, is that what was happening? “We’ve been trying to do that a little bit more, open up the court. At the end of the third quarter, we kind of went to a smaller lineup so there was more space on the court, but some of it is he just made really good plays as well.” When you have guys like Collins and Hood having a good night, how do you make the decision to play them more in the second half? “Actually I thought it was a pretty easy decision. The impact that Rodney had in the first half was clear. I thought Zach had the same impact in both halves defensively. Bottom line, that group was going well and I didn’t want to screw it up.” On how your team came out in an elimination game and how you feel about game seven: “I liked the way we came out, we kind of got behind the eight-ball a little bit early in the first quarter, we fouled a little bit too much, but I think not so much how we came out, but how we responded to being down ten in the first quarter. We didn’t have a lot of momentum, but the way we came back in the first half was important and then the way we sustained it. Going into game seven, it’s game seven. It should be fun.” What did you see on the scuffle between Curry and Barton and should the league do anything additionally? “I don’t know, I tried to see the replay late. I didn’t have a good view of it. Obviously, the referees, when they go to replay and they’re able to review it and they see it from all different angles and they come up with a decision, it’s hard to argue with that. But the league will do, if it does anything, they’ll do whatever they need to do.” You scrapped your defensive matchup after the first five minutes: “Because it wasn’t going very well.” And you changed the rotation in the second half – how much of what you’re doing is feel vs scripted? “You go into every game with a plan, but you have, we’ve talked about different scenarios. I didn’t expect to play Evan the whole fourth quarter, but he’s done a good job guarding Millsap and gives us a playmaker and we’re able to do different things offensively. I would like to say – it’s easy to look at Rodney and Zach and the contributions are obvious, but I thought Evan Turner was terrific. For a guy who doesn’t take a shot, seven rebounds, seven assists and really impacted the game without taking a shot. To answer your question, it is by feel, how the game is going, trying to read the game. If it’s going well, don’t mess with it too much, if it’s not, you’ve got to find something else.” Does that explain rolling with Lillard on the bench in the fourth? “A little bit. Seth hit a shot. I know if Seth hits a shot and I take him out, everybody’s yelling at me, ‘why’d you take him out?’ It’s one of those things.” How much are you enjoying this series that’s going seven games? “I’m looking forward to game seven. Game sevens are special. I don’t know if it’s a question of do I enjoy – I enjoy the wins, those are nice, but if you had asked me that two days ago, not so much.”
DAMIAN LILLARD The third quarter was something we haven’t seen as much this series – what happened? “I thought a lot of the looks were similar looks, just had to make shots. I think sometimes as a shooter, the shots just don’t fall then you start trying to make shots a little but too hard. You start trying too hard to make shots, maybe take a few tough ones and then that just makes it a longer night sometimes. I think over the course of the series or at least after game one, just haven’t seen the ball go in consistent enough. My job is to stay aggressive, keep doing what I do and tonight, shots fell.” You’ve never been in a game seven, what are you expecting? “I mean, I think it’s always people saying people have never been in a game seven but it’s basically a game where only one team is going to make it out. It’s your last opportunity to play, so facing elimination is what it is to me, that’s going to be my approach. We was facing elimination tonight, the only thing that’s going to change is it’s going to be on the road. It’s for our season, for all the marbles. For me, I’m not going in there saying I’ve never been in a game seven, I’m going in there saying I know what this team is capable of. I know what I am and who I am as a player and I’m going in there to get the job done. I’m not concerned with it being a game seven or whatever. It’s not game seven of the Finals, so it is what it is.” What did you think of Collins tonight? “I thought he was great. For him to be coming over and helping on a lot of the penetration, some of the mismatches on the block that they were looking to exploit with Millsap and contesting shots, blocking shots, boxing those guys out, limiting the second and third opportunities for them, just playing with confidence. Got to the free throw line and made free throws, took open shots, went up strong to the rim and it was a dunk or he was getting contact, but I just think his aggressiveness, how sharp he was mentally in the rotations and a lot of the adjustments we wanted to make, I think that was the most impressive thing that he did. A lot of people on the outside they just look for made shots, missed shots, the obvious stats but it’s a lot of stuff that you walk through in shoot arounds, that you go through when you watch film and changes that way, just positioning and stuff that you want out of players, and I thought he was really good in that way. So a lot of people might not notice those things but as his teammates, we notice how sharp he was in those things that we wanted to do.” What does it mean to have Nurk on the bench and has he told you how hard it is to watch? “He’s a part of the team so having him there, it feels more complete. Sometimes you look down there and when he’s not there, you’re like, man you could tell somebody’s missing, a player is missing. He’s also a talkative person so you feel his presence. Today was actually the first time that he said to me, when I was sitting next to him on the bench, he said, ‘Man I wish I could play with my broken leg. I would go out there right now and get hurt again if I could.’ And I was like, man, this dude is crazy. It was right after they showed him on the screen and the crowd went crazy, he must have got one of those feelings again and that’s how he was feeling at the moment I guess.” Do you hear the crowd and seek out momentum shots? “Coach, sometimes in the huddle, he’s saying give our crowd something to get behind because we know that we’ve got a great home court. We know our fans get into the game, we know how much they care. For me, I’m looking up saying, alright, we’re on a run, they’re a possession away from taking a timeout. You’re not going to kill them in the third quarter, you’re not going to kill them with eight, nine minutes in the fourth quarter, but you can get that crowd going. A few times I looked up, three-, four-, five-point lead, if I come off a screen and get a look, I’m going to raise up and it’s going to be eight, make them call a timeout, crowd going to go crazy. For us you look for those, well for me, I’m looking for those moments where it’s like, okay this could be a moment where they call a timeout, get our crowd behind us because I know how it feels being on the other side, the visiting team and the crowd is going crazy, you’ve got to call a timeout and it’s like, you’ve got to regroup and now you’ve got to go in the huddle and have these conversations, so I guess that is true, I look for those moments.” As the leader, what kind of things do you hope to say to your guys to make sure they’re at their best for game seven? “I think the number one thing is, not the number one thing but the number two thing is to get rest, stay off our feet, rest our bodies, make sure that we do that part, and the number one thing is have our minds right. Don’t overthink, don’t make it some big crazy deal or anything like that. We’re going to play a basketball game. It’s a big game and we’ve won on their floor before and we know what type of mentality we had when we did that. We’ve got to go out there, be tough, be physical, be sharp in our scouting report, play for each other, play with each other on both ends and just put the pressure on them. Make them earn everything on their offensive end and then when we get the ball, make sure that we get shots up. Value each possession, don’t go out there turning the ball over, playing into their hands where they get an opportunity to get their crowd involved. So that has to be our mentality, to just be sharp, be physical, go in there ready to take the game because the only way it’s going to happen is us going in there and taking it.” Hood has been good in this series – how much easier does it make it for you and CJ to have a consistent scorer on the wing? It’s huge because obviously coming into each, whatever game or series it is, CJ and I, we know the attention we’re going to get. We know teams are going to come try to take us out, we know that teams are going to give a lot of attention on our pick and rolls, if it’s an iso, anything that we’re doing, we know we’re going to see bodies. When you’ve got another guy on the wing that’s making threes, posting up, scoring in the midrange, drawing fouls, doing all these things, it gives the other team something else that they have to worry about to where it takes a lot of pressure of us, to where it’s not as much pressure to score the ball, it’s not as much pressure to make something happen because you’ve got another guy out there with 25 points. After the game, I said he’s probably been our most consistent game over the course of this series. I feel like all six games, he’s had a good game, so we’re going to need him to continue that game seven.”
C.J. McCOLLUM On Rodney Hood’s and Zach Collins’ contributions off the bench: “They were great. They’ve been killing this whole series. Rodney [Hood]’s been exceptional in the midrange, dominating the block, hitting threes. Our defense has been bringing aggression; Zach has impeccable timing, he’s going to lead the NBA in blocks in the future for sure – he’s fearless, he can knock down threes, he can finish right at the basket…he’s giving us a different dynamic. Obviously, not having [Jusuf] Nurk[ic], he’s got an opportunity to play more minutes and he’s risen to the occasion.” On Damian Lillard’s performance tonight: “I think he’s playing the same way. He’s had some good looks in this series, and he’s had some tough looks…as we always say, ‘it’s a make or miss league,’ and tonight he made them. Our game is on the line, series on the line, that’s when great players rise to the occasion—he just took over, knew what was at stake, and knocked down some big shots. I don’t know if he had space…maybe on a couple of them, but he’s just got to get a little bit of space and you’re going to be chasing him. He has the strength and ability to rise up and stop on a dime from deep.” On the upcoming Game 7 on Sunday: “It’s just another game—another game we want to win, obviously. We understand what’s at stake, somebody’s got to go home, somebody’s got to go to Cabo, go to Cancun as Chuck [Barkley] would say. For us, it’s go out there and compete, find the coach’s game plan, understanding that’s going to be a pretty hostile crowd and they’ll be confident at home, but we’ve got to bring the energy and pressure just like we did tonight.” On his renewed focus coming out of the first timeout in the first quarter: “I was just trying to be more aggressive; I felt like I was settling for jumpers early, and I wanted to get an easy one, get a floater or layup in the lane and then on the way back down I think I did that.”
ZACH COLLINS On the energy he brought “That’s my job, to come in and bring energy off the bench. It’s kind of been my job since I got here. It’s a lot easier to play like that when you’re at home and you’ve got the best fans in the NBA, that are jumping up at every single play and making the gym extremely loud. Definitely try to feed off the crowd a little bit and it helps when we’re playing well. But I just try to come in and do my job, bring energy.” On defending Nikola Jokic “Defending [Nikola] Jokic is tough. He’s a great player, he’s been playing well all year, he’s been playing well all series. You’ve just got to make it tough on him. He’s a guy that if you bring too much attention to him, he’s going to pass it to a shooter. If you don’t bring enough, he can score it himself. You’ve just got to make it tough on him, push the catch out a little bit. Make those catches tough, try to force him into help so he’s not getting a free lane to the basket. Just the little things like that.” On never backing down “It’s how I was raised, it’s how my parents brought me up. Just always have a chip on your shoulder when you go out there and play. I’ve always had that competitive edge and I’ve had it at every single level I’ve played at and it hasn’t changed.” On game seven “We’ve just got to go in and keep playing our game. I said it after the game, [Denver] has been comfortable for a lot of games in this series and tonight we made them a little uncomfortable. We just need to continue that, regardless of it’s a game seven or not. Obviously, it’s win or go home for both teams. It’s going to be very difficult, especially [in Denver] to go in and get a win, but we can do it.”
RODNEY HOOD On his exceptional performance in these playoffs so far: “Just being patient. The OKC series I was more of a spacer…Dame [Lillard] and C.J. [McCollum] had a great rhythm, and this is more of trying to fit in playing defense, getting deflections, those types of things. This series, I got a matchup that I like, I’m really aggressive…take some pressure off of Dame [Lillard] and C.J. [McCollum]. We’ve got one more game to get to the Western Conference Finals, so we’ve got to keep kind of exploiting different things.” On his confidence boost with this matchup and these teammates: “It’s just been great. Sometimes when you make changes, it’s for the better; you’re around a great group of guys, guys who kind of a have a personality like me, just want to win, good people. The community is great out here, so it just adds to it. I give a lot of credit to Coach [Terry] Stotts and his coaching staff for bringing me in, and to the team that was already third in the West, fourth in the West, enabling me to be a big part of what we’re doing here. It’s for reasons like this, being able to advance as much as we can, so I’m happy to be coming through for them and they’ve been great for me.” On using his experience in Game 7 with the Cleveland Cavaliers to help this team: “It’s final. It’s some of the most fun basketball that you’ll ever play. Actually, the ones last year I wasn’t playing, so…but I played in one when I was in Utah, we played the Clippers on the road; there’s nothing like going into someone’s building in a Game 7 and winning. That’s a memory that will last a very long time, so it’s going to be fun, it’s going to be intense, I’m pretty sure fans will be ready to rock. It’s going to take a total team effort like it did tonight.” On his ability to turn it up in these playoffs so far: “I really think the talent has always been there…it’s patience. Everything’s not going to happen like you want it to happen, like in life everybody has a dream and it’s supposed to happen now. Last year when I wasn’t playing a lot, I was kind of down on myself, and I just kept working; I knew that would come through. I didn’t know when it would come through but it did, and I was just grateful that I didn’t give up on myself, I just kept plugging at it. Lot more basketball to be played, and I’m happy about that.” On Zach Collins’ impact tonight: “He was huge, he was huge. Finished around the basket…I don’t know the stat, how many shots he changed, blocks, defensively what he did, he was part of this win. He’s been a huge part of this whole series, his infectious energy on the defensive end, and offensively he was using that eurostep the last game…he’s knocking down threes, playing so confident right now, and he’s been a big help.”
HEAD COACH MICHAEL MALONE On key points of tonight’s game “We’ve got to play better defense. To me, it’s pretty black and white. Give [the Blazers] credit, they played really well tonight. Rodney Hood was the MVP of the game and had a huge impact… we got off to a really good start. I liked our first quarter, I liked our defense, I liked our energy. That second quarter was the deciding quarter. [Portland outscored us] 32-20. They shot 55% from the field. The third and fourth quarter was back-and-forth. Bottom line is, we need to defend. [Portland scored] 119 points and had 15 made threes… we got 46 shots in the paint tonight and made 16. It’s unfortunate, but we’ve been here before. I thought our game six here in Portland was better than our game six at San Antonio. Now we go home, and we have the best home court advantage in the NBA. We’re going to rely on that once again to try and close it out in game seven.” On losing control of the game in the second quarter “I thought the second quarter was a pivotal 12 minutes where we had a good vibe going on both ends, we were somewhat in control of the game early, so you like where you’re headed. Then in that second quarter, everything just got turned around really, really quick. Give [Portland’s] bench credit. Those guys came in and played very, very well for them.” On the play of Damian Lillard and Rodney Hood “[In the third quarter], it was an aggressive Dame [Lillard]. You saw that in all five games in the first round against Oklahoma City. We’ve done a good job of guarding him throughout this series and tonight, with their backs against the wall, you knew what you were going to get [from Damian Lillard]. He had 32 points, made six of 13 threes and did a hell of a job. But once again, as well as Damian [Lillard] played, you can’t speak enough about Rodney Hood. Not just the impact that Rodney [Hood] had tonight, but the impact he’s had the whole series. He averaged three points a game in the first round. So talk about a young man stepping up and taking advantage of a situation in an elimination game. It was a great performance by Rodney Hood. We have to be much better guarding him.”
Nikola Jokic On Zach Collins & Rodney Hood in this series.. Jokic: “They’re talented players. Rodney Hood was averaging 18 points at one point in his career. He’s a really big factor on their team right now, so he’s making shots and he’s getting to the basket. He’s a little bit taller than our guards.” On having home court in a game 7.. Jokic: “We lost in the first series at home and we lost in the second series at home. We also beat them. It means a lot; If we can pick, we’re going to play game 7 at our home. I think mostly it’s who brings the energy on the floor.” On if the competitiveness in this series will translate to game 7.. Jokic: “Both teams want to win the game. Basketball is an emotional game. Of course we’re going to talk trash or whatever or hit. Both teams just want to win the game.” On the challenge of Zach Collins who brings a lot of energy.. Jokic: “He wants to prove himself. He’s athletic, he uses his teammates really good, and he knows his role. I think that’s a really big thing for a young player to know his role. Just play his role. He has a lot of energy and he’s out there working.” On what changed in the second quarter.. Jokic: “They had a 9-0 run or something like that. The whole game they were 40-45% from the three-point line. I think that’s a big reason why they won the game. They probably said we need to go right now and pick up the energy.” On nerves in his first game 7 (vs the Spurs).. Jokic: “No (nerves), I just felt something different the first game of the playoffs because it was something different. Just because we call it the playoffs. Besides that, everything else is the same.” On key to containing Rodney Hood in game 7.. Jokic: “We need to watch the film and see what aspects of the game he hurt us. He shot 8-12 so that’s a really high percentage. Maybe we just need to be aggressive on him and don’t let him pick us apart. He had a lot of wide open shots.” BONUS QUOTE Jokic: “I’m really happy to see Nurk. I know he had a tough injury and he was with us and we are conference rivals or whatever but it’s really nice to see him back walking again in such a short period.”
JAMAL MURRAY On the Nuggets’ shooting struggles after the third quarter: “I don’t think it was our offense…I think they just scored too easily.” On using their recent experience with a Game 7 to prepare for the next one: “It’s weird, everyone keeps talking about experience, and I just want to say that we’ve been here before. We’ll go back home, regroup like we did for San Antonio, come back with energy and…just be ready to play. I think we had too many lapses tonight. Dame [Lillard] felt really comfortable, he wasn’t comfortable last time, so we need to be tougher on him next game…like I said, just regroup, come back and get a win.”
PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Portland Trail Blazers and Denver Nuggets are heading toward a Game 7 showdown after things got heated between the teams late in Thursday night's contest. A scuffle broke out midway through the fourth quarter of Portland's 119-108 victory, during which Blazers guard Seth Curry and Denver forward Will Bartonshoved each other. As the two were being separated, Barton appeared to poke Curry in the eye. Denver's Torrey Craig and Portland's Zach Collins also got into it as the skirmish escalated. Officials handed out offsetting technical fouls for all four players. Afterward, Curry took exception to the Nuggets' actions, Barton's in particular. "He waited for a few people to get in between us, and when a few people were in between us, he put his finger in my eye," Curry said of Barton. "You know what I'm saying. I can't allow people to put their fingers in my eye. "That's real sassy. They got a few sassy dudes over there. Front-runners. And we can't allow that." The incident occurred after Nuggets center Nikola Jokic drove to the rim and was called for an offensive foul, causing Collins to fall backward toward Barton's legs. Curry came over to help Collins up and nudged Barton away. Barton pushed back, and the skirmish ensued. Curry said he was surprised that Barton did not get ejected. Barton said he does not believe he will be suspended for Game 7 and explained that he was simply protecting himself from getting hurt after Collins fell toward him. "It ain't no beef," Barton said. "I wasn't even looking for that. I was just trying to protect myself. I guess he thought I was trying to stand on top of him and be tough. I was just trying to get out of the way before I got injured. He pushed me. I'm not going to let nobody push me. But that's nothing." Craig got in the middle of Barton and Curry, and Collins shoved Craig. Portland's Evan Turner then came over and held Craig at a distance. Officials took their time to examine the play before handing out the offsetting technical fouls with 6:16 remaining and Portland already up 104-90. "I ain't worried about no fines," Barton said. "I ain't trippin off that. Hopefully, [there's] no suspension off that. I think if I [did something to get] suspended, I would probably have gotten ejected." "It's competitive playoff basketball," Barton added. "Some things are going to happen. If we are all out there just being friendly, it ain't going to look like nobody trying to win." http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26713930/seth-curry-barton-scuffle-nuggets-sassy
"We don't quit," Portland's Enes Kanter said. "I mean, that's one thing, we don't quit. I mean, we lost Game 5 by, what, [26] points? We know we are capable of winning there, we can beat that team." http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26713930/seth-curry-barton-scuffle-nuggets-sassy
