HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS “Obviously it was disappointing to lose that game, but we didn’t make enough plays to win the game throughout the game. Obviously it came down to the last minute, but after the first quarter, we really never were as good as we needed to be defensively. Give credit to Minnesota. They played really well. They’ve been playing well lately. They got momentum, they made big shots and they made big plays. So it’s a disappointing loss. We’ll see what happens over the next three days, then we’ll play Denver.” On problems defensively tonight: “I think their offensive rebounds, their loose balls. The first quarter I think we only gave up two points in the paint and they had a bunch the rest of the way. They’re not necessarily a transition team, but we just didn’t make the aggressive energy plays that you need to make against a young athletic team.” Can you attribute 19 turnovers to their defense or carelessness? “As in most cases, probably a little bit of both. I mean, we had two five second counts – whether that was poor execution or good defense. Rubio gets a charge and gets three steals, I mean that’s what he does. You have to give credit to them but I thought some of them were self-inflicted.”
DAMIAN LILLARD “It was a little frustrating. We didn’t play as consistent or as urgent as we needed to in the second and third and fourth quarter after a good start to the game, so I mean it was a little frustrating. Especially giving ourselves a lead at the end, to come down to three seconds and we need one stop. Basically because we didn’t deserve to win, we didn’t, and a play like that happens at the end, and I think it’s so much bigger than that play. A lot of things that we didn’t do well – they had a lot of times where they scored five and six possessions in a row. We just weren’t sharp enough and it came back to bit us in the end.” Can this loss be good in a way, like a wakeup call? “I don’t think we were sleeping on the possibility. They just beat the Warriors in Golden State so that lets you know right there that they’re capable, they’ve got talent. Like I’ve been saying all year, who are we to look down on any opponent, but they came in and played a good game.” “It’s a lot of things that we could take from it. When we do things well defensively, when we communicate, we help each other out, we play physical, we play smart, offensively we move the ball – we’re at our best. Tonight we did it in spurts. When we do in spurts, we allow teams to do like Minnesota did tonight.” Is it extra frustrating given that you controlled you own destiny coming into game? “I mean, we’re in the playoffs. We just want to do the right things every game. That’s the biggest thing, is play the right way and give ourselves a chance every night, the best chance. Tonight we didn’t do that. But like I said, we’re in and whoever we end up playing, that’s what it is. We want to push ourselves to get as high as we can and finish the season off the right way.”
MASON PLUMLEE On Towns: “He scored a lot, hit shots and made plays.” Do you feel like you let one get away? “For sure. We knew the importance of this game. I think we tried to save it at the end but we didn’t really play with a purpose throughout the game and I think that was why it was so close going down the stretch.” Describe mood after the game: “It’s not a good feeling. We know we let one get away. Now it’s wait and see. We’re in a position where we had control and now we’re not in control so we just have to wait and see and then beat Denver.”
INTERIM HEAD COACH SAM MITCHELL On running out at the Blazers three point shots: “Yeah, we were trying to. Those guys score so much and they put so much pressure on your defense. Our thought process was just to try to make those guys play within the two and make other people shoot contested shots if we could get to them. Those guys are just so tough, and like I said before the game, the great thing about this team (Blazers) is everybody knows their role and knows their strengths and weaknesses and they execute. But that’s what Damian Lillard does, he makes tough shots and big shots. With 3.5 seconds left and down one, I liked our chances still.” On Karl-Anthony Towns composure on the last shot and what makes him special: “Karl’s been playing great for us all year, and he’s had an amazing season for a rookie. After about 40 games we were waiting for him to hit that illusive rookie wall and I would talk to him about it and he would say, ‘coach, I’m not going to hit it’. And to his credit, every morning at 8:30 AM, we have a 12 o’clock or 11:30 AM practice, he’s in the weight room, he’s on the court getting his individual work and he just works his tail off. And all our guys… I think people can see as the season has progressed, our young guys have gotten better and better. I’m just proud of them… I think somebody asked me before the game if our guys had quit… I don’t think we need to answer that question.” On what it means to see his young guys step up: “Well they’ve been doing it all year. Andrew (Wiggins) has made big plays for us, Karl has made big shots for us. The thing about those two guys is they don’t shy away from the basketball, I trust them, make or miss we’re going to live with the results. The thing I like is we didn’t panic when we went down one. We knew we had a timeout and we knew we had 3.5 seconds, so we knew we had a chance to get a good shot. We just wanted to get the best shot possible. I wanted to get him (Karl-Anthony Towns) to that right hook. He had made his last three jump hooks and we felt like if we could get him back to that right hand jump hook, that he could make that shot. When we looked out there and they went small, we knew were going to have a size advantage inside.”
RICKY RUBIO On if they learned something after the game: “Absolutely, we made mistakes at the end but KAT (Karl-Anthony Towns) really stepped up and made a big play at the end.” On if they wanted a foul before the Lillard four point play: “Yeah we wanted a foul but it was hard to get a foul before. The referee didn’t see it that way and we almost lost the game because of it.” On Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns’ fourth quarter growth: “It’s big, it’s what you need from your guys at the end of games to win.” On how it feels to be going home 3-0 on this road trip: “Fantastic.”
KARL-ANTHONY TOWNS On the last play: “It was great execution on the team’s part. We drew up a great play, the coaching staff is amazing in that situation and I want to thank my teammates for having the trust in me to make that shot.” On their quick turnaround after Damian Lillard’s four point play: “It was one of those things where we came in the huddle and I think that if this was early in the year we could have been a little flustered, a little rattled by that kind of moment but I see the growth in our team because we came in after that four point play and we were very relaxed, very calm and we still felt we had the game in hand.” On if he felt good when the Trailblazers went small on the last play: “You know what? It was one of those things that I didn’t know who was in front of me at all. I just knew that I had to make the basket for my teammates.”
TEAM • The loss snaps a streak of eight consecutive home wins for Portland, who is now 17-3 in its past 20 games at the Moda Center (27-13 overall). • That is Minnesota’s first win at the Moda Center since March 3, 2012. The Timberwolves had previously lost eight straight contests in Portland. • Tonight marks Portland’s first loss at home against a Northwest Division opponent (6-1). The Trail Blazers are 10-5 overall against their division foes. • Portland is now 24-12 over its past 36 contests (won six of past eight). • Tonight is just the fourth time this season that the Trail Blazers have lost when playing on two or more days of rest (12-4). • Over the past 48 games, Portland is 4-17 when trailing after two quarters. • Four Portland players scored in double figures, snapping a streak of 12 consecutive games in which at least five Trail Blazers scored 10+ points.
PLAYER • Damian Lillard’s fifth assist tonight was the 2,000th of his career. He is just the second Trail Blazer in franchise history to record at least 2,000 in his first four seasons (Terry Porter). • Damian Lillard is the first NBA player with 6,000+ points and 2,000+ assists in his first four seasons since LeBron James (2003-07). • CJ McCollum scored 21 points, marking the 40th time this season that he has scored at least 20 points (24-16). McCollum had scored 20+ points three times prior to this season. • Mason Plumlee (15 pts, 15 reb) recorded his 15th double-double of the season (career-high) and is now tied for the team lead (Lillard). • Mason Plumlee’s 15-point, 15-rebound performance represents his second career game of 15+ points and 15+ rebounds (1/9/15, BKN vs. PHI). • Damian Lillard made four three-point field goals, and is just one three shy of tying Wesley Matthews (826) for the franchise record in three-point field goals made. • Damian Lillard scored 12 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter on 4-of-7 shooting. Lillard has now scored 30+ points in 24 games this season (franchise record: 25).
MEDIA "We didn't ask coach Stotts about the last play and guarding Towns properly because we were scared, Stotts is tall."
