Exclusive Warriors at Blazers, 2/19/2016, 32pt win! Lillard scores 51pts! Quote Book!

HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS
“Well I don’t know where to start… It’s an understatement – we played very well. I liked the way we kept our composure. Offensively, we were terrific all night moving the ball. Dame had it going early, had it going late. After giving up some easy baskets in the first quarter, I thought our defense was pretty solid the rest of the night. It was a great way to start after the break.”



On Lillard’s game:

“He got into the zone twice. At the end of the first quarter, he got into the zone and third quarter, fourth quarter, I don’t know how many points he had in the second half, but it seemed like every spurt – well, we had a lot of spurts – but he was involved in three big ones. At the end, it was just ridiculous.”



What are your thoughts on shot selection when a player gets it going like that?

“I’m pretty lenient with shot selection. I do like a rhythm to the game. I do like to have some movement. He missed some shots and after he missed one, he got it back into flow and team flow. But certainly with a player like Damian, there’s some latitude especially when they have it going.”


“This was a special night, let’s face it - beating Golden State, Damian getting 50, this was a special win no question. It was a special night for a lot of reasons.”


On team responding after Golden State cut down lead:

“Well, one of the things we said at halftime - the Warriors have seen it all and they weren’t going to flitch and it wasn’t like we were going to knock them out early. You could tell, we get up 19 in the first half and they made their run. They’ve been in a lot of positions, they get everybody’s best shot and I liked the way that we didn’t back down. When they made their run, we didn’t slow down and certainly the way we came out in the third quarter, I thought was really important.”

 

DAMIAN LILLARD
What does it feel like to get 50?

“It’s a great feeling, especially against coming against the best team in the league and in a win against the best team in the league. I couldn’t be more happy with our effort defensively because I think that’s what allowed us to get out and play at a fast pace and move the ball the way we did tonight.”



When did you realize you were feeling it?

“The last couple days in practice I just didn’t feel great. In practice, I Was turning the ball over, I wasn’t making shots, I wasn’t moving real well, and I told Nate yesterday, I was like every time I feel like this, the next day I just always have it. I came out tonight and when I did my routine before the game, I just felt good. Going side to side, when I was pulling up off the dribble, I just felt in rhythm, the ball felt good in my hands. To start the game, we executed well. We set good screens, Ed had a lot of good screens that he set where I was able to get clean looks. Once I saw the ball go in so much early in the game, that’s what helped me kind of get going later in the game.”


“I haven’t scored 50 since ninth grade.”


Did you know how many points you had?

“Honestly, I don’t even remember when I went from 30 to 40 but I remember when I had 40 I hit a three, I knew it was 43. Then I remember CJ pitched me one and I hit 46 and I was like, I’m getting 50.”


Have you felt like the zone you were in during the fourth quarter?

“I have but I hadn’t had the game I was having before it happened before, so I think that’s how I got to 50. Usually I’d have like 9 points and then I’d run off like 25 and I’d end up with 34. Tonight I think I already had 20 points, so once I got hot, it took me to that next level.”


On win against Golden state

“I think it gives us confidence in what we’ve been doing all along in the last three weeks or so. We’ve taken a lot of pride in defending, being physical, active hands – all those things, causing turnovers and just getting out and playing. We’ve done it against the Minnesotas, the Utahs, Sacramento, we did it against Memphis and the Rockets and now we come in here against the best team in the league and we’re able to still find a way to do what helps us be successful. That’s the best thing so we should take a lot of confidence from it.”



Were you juiced up for this game?

“Absolutely, it was a great opportunity for us. We had a great stretch coming into the All Star break and right after the break, we get the best team in the league. We’re expected to lose the game, there’s no pressure on us. It’s always fun to play against them, they play a fun game. They’re fast paced, they shoot a lot of threes, they play small ball and we was able to match that tonight and it was a fun game to be a part of.”

 

HEAD COACH STEVE KERR

On what he told his team after the game:

“What I told our guys is, this is the NBA, so there’s going to be nights where the other gets hot. Particularly Portland with their backcourt. I mean, their backcourt is like our backcourt, they can just explode. So I’m okay with the other team making shots, what I’m not okay with is losing our poise in the 3rd quarter and making 13 turnovers in one quarter. We’re down 15, we can score fifteen points in 2 minutes, but we tried to score 15 points in like one possession over and over again, and trying to male homerun plays. Totally lost our poise and that was the most disappointing thing. The other stuff, this is a good team their playing well at home, they played a great game. You know, they kicked our butts, they deserved everything, but we should’ve put a better effort, a better fight in the 3rd quarter just with our approach.”


On whether he was surprised or shocked by the 3rd quarter:

“I was surprised. Normally when we fall behind we show poise and we’re fine, especially when we go small we’re usually in a pretty good spot, but we were out of character with the decision making and the careless passing. We can’t do that if we expect to win, especially against a good team on the road.”


On what kind of bounce back effort he expects tomorrow:

“Well the lone bright spot is that nobody played heavy minutes. We’ve got a quick turnaround, 5:30 game tomorrow against a good team who’s playing really well, so it’s a good challenge.”


On Damian Lillard’s performance:

He was phenomenal, he was great. He looked like Steph Curry out there.”

 

KLAY THOMPSON

On what happened in the 3rd quarter:

“Just careless turnovers. We weren’t as focused as we should be and we got to understand that it’s the second half of the season. We come to town, especially for a team like that, it’s their biggest game of the year so we’ve got to understand that. They just caught us on an off night.”


On if he felt any rust from the All-Star break:

“A little bit, you saw it in that 3rd quarter. I’m going to take a positive, it’s a good wake up call for us. We’ve got a good team tomorrow in the Clippers and they’ll do the same if we don’t take care of the ball and play focused for 48 minutes.”


On the effort he expects for tomorrow night’s game in LA:

“Great effort. That’s a really good team that playing down there and really well right now. So we’ll treat it like a playoff game because they’re one of the better teams in the west and who knows, we might see them down the road.”

 

STEPHEN CURRY

On Damian Lillard’s game:

“He shot the ball extremely well, had a great end to the 1st quarter that got the crowd into it. He did alright in the 2nd and 3rd quarters guarding, forcing in tough shots and obviously we saw what he did in the 4th. It was just his night, it happens, well 50 doesn’t happen all the time but for a guy who played as well as he did you just have to take this one and move on.”



On Steve Kerr’s message postgame:

“This is a lot of what happens during the season and obviously keep our positive attitudes but the way we played in the 3rd quarter with however many turnovers we had was the game pretty much. We had clawed our way back into it, down 6 at halftime and maybe cut it to 5 at one point and then the wheels came off. We lost our composure when it comes to how we try to control out possessions and that usually doesn’t happen.”


On if the break had anything to do with their loss:

“I don’t think so, I mean we had what 3 guys that went to Toronto but felt fresh coming back, ready to go. Had we won I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t be an issue it’s just a matter of they made more plays than we did tonight.”

 

Hahahahaha!

 

So, that old adage is true: "Even a broken clock is right twice a a day."

 

And he didn't use sources!!!